When Can My Kids Start Playing Water Polo?

Kids as young as 4 or 5 can start water polo. At first it will look like swimming lessons but soon it will develop into full games and a lot of fun!

Water Polo can be taught at very young ages, from 4 or 5. To begin with this is just like swimming lessons but with a ball and goal thrown in for some extra fun. If you watch kids learning to swim ‘the water polo way’ there will be as much emphasis on having fun and learning some fun competitive skills as there will be on learning to swim. Water polo is, after all, a game that should be fun whatever level you play at from 5 to 50+.

‘I Love Water Polo’ is Water Polo Canada’s introduction to the sport for young athletes. This is a learn-to-play environment, similar to swimming lessons, aimed at letting participant discover a love of water polo whilst at the same time developing good aquatic skills like swimming and treading water.

If you can swim you can play!

For older kids, and currently with Kelowna Water Polo Club, we are running learn-to-play sessions in the deep tank at the Kelowna YMCA in Rutland.

The environment in the deep tank means that participants must already have some good swimming skills. If you are looking for a comparison then kids who have taken Red Cross Swim Kids Level 7 or 8 run by the City of Kelowna and who are comfortable in deep water would be ideally suited to give water polo a try. Swimmers should be able to swim 25-50 metres of front crawl with ease at this level. For YMCA programs such as those run at the H2O or Family YMCA Star 1 or Star 2 will have swimmers at a level ready to try water polo.

Play as a team!

If your kids love the team aspects of soccer, volleyball, basketball but didn’t take enjoy the traditional swimming club workout then water polo could be the sport they should try! Just like on-land sports some young athletes are find the sport they love by giving different sports a try.

Just like the sprinting and long distance running of some track-and-field disciplines isn’t for everyone speed swimming isn’t the only way to build strength and confidence in the water.

Trying out other sports like triathlon where swimming is mixed with the disciplines of cycling and running or having a go at artistic swimming, there are so many options. Water polo offers something unique!

Enjoy the game!

Water polo is a great spectator sport. In a weekend of water polo competitions teams will normally have multiple games where you get the opportunity to cheer on your player’s team! Games will vary in length depending on the level of competition but the FINA sanctioned games will be 4 quarters of 8 minutes. Some provincial leagues will shorten this for younger athletes (because water polo it hard!).

Just like in basketball, water polo has a shot clock. This can make it a high-scoring game with plenty of end-to-end action to exercise your lungs to!

Get in touch

So if all this sounds like something your kids would enjoy then get in touch at [email protected].