Notes on Water Polo for New Spectators:

Initial responses to the game of water polo often center around the physical demands of the game and the confusing torrent of whistles.  Water polo is a grueling game.  Players are swimming and treading water constantly.  This, combined with vigorous fighting for position and the ball, establishes water polo as one of the most physically demanding sports.  The players in the pool today are talented, conditioned athletes.

The frequent whistles indicate some infraction of the rules.  Most often the officials are signaling some minor infraction or technical foul.  Such a foul committed by a player on the defense results in the award of a free throw to the offense.  A player taking a free throw has the right to put the ball into play without interference by the defense.  Putting the ball "in play" entails passing or in some other way starting the ball into motion other than shooting from the spot of the foul or farther from the goal.  Players are required to put the ball in play quickly (roughly 3 seconds) and if that is not done the ball is awarded to the other team.  The player is not allowed to shoot at the goal on a free throw unless he is outside of the 5-meter line and shoots immediately.  Significant markings for the pool are at 2 meters and 5 meters from the front of the goal and the mid-pool line. 

If an ordinary foul is committed by a player on the offense, the ball is turned over to the defending team.  Players on offense are not allowed to push away defenders and no player is allowed to use the bottom of the pool to his advantage.  It is considered off-sides for a player on offense to be inside the 2 meter line unless he is in possession of the ball or behind the ball.  A player cannot hold the ball under water while "under attack", even if that player is forced to do so by the defense. If either of these happen, the ball will be turned over to the other team.

Some fouls, either because of the severity of the foul, the intent of the foul or the location at which the foul occurs, are considered more serious and are called personal fouls.  Most often these result in the ejection of a defensive player from the game for 20 seconds (or until there is a score or a turnover).  The excluded player must move to the ejection area until signaled back into play.  In certain circumstances, where a foul stopped a likely goal for example, major fouls are punished by awarding a penalty throw to the offended team.  A penalty throw is a free shot on the goalkeeper positioned with his hips on the goal line (for wall-mounted goals), taken from the 5 -meter line.

Officials do their very best to call the fouls that they can and should.  The officials are required by the rules to overlook even obvious fouls in an effort not to rob one team of an advantage situation in order to assess a foul against the defending team.  It is also important to understand that it is virtually impossible to foul a player holding the ball.  Please support the officials in their efforts.

For a goal to be scored, the ball must pass completely beyond the goal line.  Goalkeepers have some special privileges in water polo.  They are allowed to grasp the ball with both hands and stand on the bottom within 5 meters of their own goal.  Outside of 5 meters, they loose these privileges and are treated the same as other field players.  Goalkeepers are restricted to their defensive end of the pool.

This is an attempt to offer answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about the game.  I hope it helps.  Water polo is a fast paced and exciting game and I hope you will sit back and enjoy it.  Thanks for your support.

-Todd Currie, Head Coach, Boys Water Polo, Choate Rosemary Hall