Where do you practice?
Our adult team practices at Macalester College in St. Paul year round (indoor deep-deep pool) although some years we have rented pool time at nearby Highland Park Aquatic Center in St. Paul for the summer months (outdoor 50 m pool).
Our focus right now is on players in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. Unfortunately we do not have programming at this time in greater Minnesota.
How often / when do you practice?
We generally practice 3x / week. Pool time varies each season (Fall, Winter, & Summer) but usually there are two practices weekday evenings and one practice on Sunday mornings.
How much does it cost to play?
Every season there is a drop in rate of $15 and a discounted full season rate between $200-$300.
Financial support and exceptions are granted on a case by case basis. Please email.
Do you have water polo for kids?
Not right now. In early 2020, we started youth programming for 14 and Under but the COVID19 pandemic disrupted our momentum. We hope to relaunch youth try-it opportunities for this age group. Email us to stay updated on this.
I have never played water polo before. Can I join your club?
Absolutely! We welcome adult players from all backgrounds and across a very wide range of experience, including complete beginners. We do, however, require a very high level of swimming proficiency from all athletes for safety and enjoyment.
If you have never played water polo before and would like to participate, we recommend that you should be able to comfortably swim 8 x 100 meters freestyle consecutively on the 1:30-1:45. This allows us to help you learn passing, shooting, ball control, and game strategy.
If you have experience and history with water polo, but your swimming has gotten rusty, that’s okay. You don’t need to be swimming 100s at this speed to join us. Soon you will be again :)
What we have found is that we can’t support total beginners who are not very strong swimmers. Our adult program, which involves extensive scrimmaging time at practices, is unfortunately not in a place where we can support beginners who neither have water polo game play experience nor strong swimming abilities. This is also a safety issue and hurts enjoyment for beginners.
Our criteria for youth clinics and programming (14 and Under) right now is that children should be comfortable in water and able to swim from one end of the pool to the other end and back (~50 yards).
Do you travel and compete?
We travel to tournaments to have fun and improve ~2x / year. We may travel and compete in more regional and national tournaments as our program evolves.
Most practices begin with independent time for swimming (~10-15 minutes) followed by casual passing and shooting drills (~20-30 min) then scrimmage (45-60 min). We sometimes experiment with different drills.
We do not split practices by gender; everyone plays together and we use the larger size men’s balls in co-ed practices. We have offered dedicated practices and games for female athletes in the past with women’s size competition balls and would like to offer more of this as our programming grows.
We have some athletes who have played D1/D3 college water polo or have represented their country on a national level. We also have complete beginners and everything in between. We try our best to balance the needs of these different players and create an atmosphere that is fun, welcoming and respectful for everyone. We ask our more experienced athletes to make adjustments and provide helpful coaching to developing players.
What are practices like?