Sense and Adaptability: Water Polo's Uniqueness

When I first mentioned to a friend that I had decided to join the Poly girls water polo team, they reacted with thinly veiled suprise. Even I will admit the unexpectedness of my decision: in past athletic activities, I have exhibited spectacular uncoordination coupled with disinterest , so it seemed unlikely that I would volunteer to participate in a sport which requires pre-game nail checks to prevent players from bloodily clawing at each other. As I soon realized, I chose rightly by joining water polo; for the first time, I genuinely enjoyed playing a sport. 

When the season ended two weeks ago, it felt abrupt, but I distinctly and sentimentally remember our last game, as it demonstrated the elements of water polo which make it unique. Our coach decided to switch around the starting lineup so that a few of us could try playing a new position, and in the rearranged lineup I played two-meter defense (I usually played outside offense.) This initially made me nervous, as I had witnessed our two-meter defender struggling to avoid being half-drowned by bulky set players for the duration of several games. However, playing two-meter defense was surprisingly managable: during each play, I guarded the (luckily perfectly civil) offensive player closest to our goal, and because I like playing man-on-man defense much more than swimming around on offense, I enjoyed the game and regaled in our eventual victory.

More importantly, our last game allowed me to understand the underlying reason that I like water polo more than other sports- beyond athletic skill, it requires self-awareness and communication between players, and improvement as a player means more than just doing conditioning exercises. When I started playing two-meter defense, I possessed no natural defensive talent, but could judge my surroundings and see where I should go so I made the transition easily. Because my awareness of my surroundings was an important factor in my game performance, I worked on it throughout the season, gratified by the steady improvement that followed. I had found a sport at which I could get better by simply working hard and staying focused in a game, leading me to be more successful than in other sports and to consequently feel genuinely rewarded by our team’s consistent wins. In the future, I can definitely accomplish further improvement, and I eagerly anticipate the start of next year's season!

Image credit: tiss-nc.org  (this site appears to have been deactivated, as this image was found via Google images.)