Trinity club water polo is making waves, both in the pool and in the San Antonio community. Now in its third year since returning, the men’s and women’s teams are building their skills through local partnerships and tournaments as they aim to rejoin the Collegiate Water Polo Association next year.
The clubs pair with local San Antonio water polo clubs to practice and learn from more experienced players. The local masters team, the San Antonio Water Polo Club (SAWPC) competes with players from 18 to 80 years old, and hosts scrimmages on Saturdays at Alamo Heights’ Heights Pool. According to the captain of the club, Connor Philpott, a sophomore accounting and finance double-major, the connection with the San Antonio community gives the club an opportunity to learn from established water polo athletes, even if they are a beginner. Philpott said water polo’s community aspect has been phenomenal, bringing in his former coach from Sandra Day O’Connor High School in Helotes, Texas, to lead the teams.
“We’ve had a great connection since before I came here,” Philpott said. “He’s been coaching for 20-plus years, so he’s been able to teach everyone, even if they’re fully a beginner, but also integrate us into meeting the other masters who played Division I. There’s a guy that played on the Olympic national team. He’s 75 years old, but he knows a lot about the sport and how to play. It really just opens up all of our different playing styles and allows us to compete in different ways that we probably wouldn’t have if we never got to meet these people.”
Water polo, played with six players and one goalkeeper, requires all players to remain afloat without touching the bottom of the pool. Players wear colored caps to identify their teams. Each game has four quarters, typically lasting six to eight minutes each, with a 30-second shot clock requiring teams to attempt a shot after gaining possession. Players can commit up to three personal fouls, such as holding, sinking or pulling an opponent, before being ejected. Water polo has a piece of every sport, only now it’s in the pool, Philpott said.
“You take the throwing motions from baseball, you take the ability for a goalie to use two hands from soccer,” Philpott said. “You take the swimming aspect from swimming. You take the game setup stuff and style from basketball, but you add an extra player, you take the physicality from like rugby and football. It’s pretty much just a mix of every sport plus water.”
Before the end of the year, the teams plan to compete in the San Antonio Invitational, though a date has not been finalized. Looking ahead, the men’s and women’s teams will join forces with the masters team to compete in the Screwston Invitational in Pearland, Texas on May 16 and 17. The men’s and women’s teams practice together from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the Hixon Natatorium.
