Team treads water and wins
Utah State University has only had a club water polo team for the past few years, but they are quickly making up for lost time.
The team has already competed in eight games since the start of their season at the beginning of September and has won four times with a close loss to University of Utah.
Dan Dallon, a senior majoring in biology, is the water polo club president at USU and co-captain of the team. He said the University of Utah has a well-established water polo club and usually dominates the other Utah schools, so an 18-16 loss in the final seconds of the game is a sign of USU’s mounting strength. This is the team’s first year in a league since 1998.
“This is the first year we have been competitive,” Dallon said. “This is our first real year as a team.”
Water polo began as a sport in the mid 1800s. It was intended to be a water version of rugby, according to www.usawaterpolo.com.
A water polo game is played with seven players per team, including the goalie. The pool must be deep enough that no player can touch the bottom, so all of the players are constantly keeping themselves afloat, as well as swimming after loose balls and trying to defend or score goals. There are four periods in every game and the periods are seven minutes of actual play, with the clock stopping constantly.
In order to score, players must throw or even slap the ball into rectangular floating goals. With the exception of the goalie, players are not allowed to touch the ball with more than one hand at a time.
The player positioned closest to the goal is called a whole set. Scoring for a whole set is difficult because a defensive technique in water polo is fouling to prevent a shot, said player David Borjas, a graduate student in accounting. Essentially, a whole set must release the ball before the defensive player can foul them. Being a whole set requires extreme quickness and agility in order to be successful.
“Water polo is like hockey, rugby and swimming combined,” Borjas said. “You’re constantly pushing against someone and swimming. There is no break.”
The only safety gear worn by water polo players is a cap with ear protectors. The caps are labeled with the player’s number so they can be identified in the pool.
There is some dispute among the team as to their safety function, however. Borjas said they are designed to keep you from getting your ears ripped off. Co-captain Matt Wilson, junior majoring in business information systems, said they help guard against cauliflower ear.
The water polo club plays in a men’s league, but several girls are on the roster. There is currently no women’s team.
“We haven’t been able to get enough girls coming to have a girls’ team,” said player Becky Hobbs.
Hobbs, along with teammates Anne Panza and Lisa Buckaleu, said women’s water polo versus men’s is a very different game.
“The guys’ game is about power and physicalness,” Panza said. “Girls’ is about speed and setting up your offense.”
Stephen’s Hot Chocolate is sponsoring the water polo club this year. The team was on the inside track for sponsorship, though. Three players are related to the owners of Stephen’s.
“The school also gives us money, but they can’t afford to give us much,” Dallon said.
The water polo team practices Tuesday and Thursday nights from 7:30 to 9:30 at the HPER pool. The other schools competing in the water polo league are University of Arizona, University of Colorado, University of Utah, Colorado State University and Colorado School of Mines. The water polo club’s next tournament is in two weeks in Tucson, Ariz.
-melprice@cc.usu.edu