US Water Polo Masters Festival

Story by Jim Cude

With IGLA looming, I figured I needed work on some basic water polo skills. I had heard about the Water Polo Masters Festival in Henderson, NV, but never went. The festival goes for three days, and encompasses both a training camp and mini tournament. This year, I decided to give it a try.

About 100 athletes from across the US and Canada attended, and pretty much everyone had a blast. Garth Masik, Jackie Cole and myself represented WH2O . The tournament is designed for beginning and intermediate players, with strong focus on fundamentals and team plays. The training camp went Friday night and Saturday morning, with coaches “scouting” athletes in to determine skill levels. At lunch, we were divided into teams, based on how we faired in the training camp. Jackie and I were on the “Score 3” team (named after the pool we were in);. Garth got placed on Score 1.

Score 3 went 2 for 1, winning our 1st and 3rd games with a score of 14 to 4 both times; we lost our second game in a very close match, 11 to 12. I’m happy to report that my offensive skills improved with each game (I scored 5 in the last game), and I won the Most Improved Offensive Driver award. Garth won the most Improved Defensive Player. One other random highlight of the tournament: one team actually had a player red flagged two mintues into the first quarter or one game. (For non polo players, red flag means you have 3 major fouls called on you, and you are kicked out of the rest of the game.)

I highly recommend this festival for all players, especially new players who want to learn the game, and intermediate players who want to improve their skill levels. The festival runs annually in late February.