Water polo – is a sport that requires extreme endurance, agility and swimming skills, played seven apart, including a goalkeeper, and is causing a sensation in Saskatoon’s pools.
The local water polo community has seen growth this year despite the COVID-19 pandemic, something that has only served to better promote a lesser-known sport and league in Bridge City.
“We are doing very well with some recruits and our club has grown since last year with the pandemic, probably by more than 50 percent,” said club president Jennifer Boutin.
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Boutin has only been in the sport for four years, but in that time she and her family have fully immersed themselves in the community, their four children, all active players in Saskatoon.
“Over the past four years it has had an amazing positive impact on our family life,” he explained. “(It’s) just a really satisfying feeling to see your kids participate, have fun and grow in their athletics.”
His son Leo was immediately hooked and has been in the pool since his first exposure to the sport.
“A group of my friends wanted to play water polo, so I was sure I would give it a try, and I loved it as soon as I got into the water,” he said.
“It’s a lot of fun. You might as well give it a try; it’s challenging and rewarding.”
It’s a similar sentiment shared by one of Leo’s mentors, 15U Saskatoon Pirates head coach Ben Guest, who represented Canada at the age of 17.
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“I saw it on TV during the London 2012 Olympics and decided one day, let’s go to the pool and try this and I fell in love with the sport,” Guest said.
The sport has seen ebbs and flows of growth in Saskatoon since Guest began competing, but registration rates and provincial competitions have him optimistic for the future of the sport in Saskatoon, as well as all of Saskatchewan.
“It has grown a lot, it’s just that a lot of people don’t know anything about water polo,” he explained. “It’s much bigger in other countries like Europe, but it’s been great for people to see the sport at the Olympics, see it on the news and come to the pool like I did and finally fall in love with the sport.”
“It’s kind of surprising,” added the young Boutin. “(When I started) there weren’t a lot of people here, but now we have a club and full teams and everything.”
It’s that environment that has athletes excited to come to the pool and compete, something Guest is proud to have helped cultivate in Saskatoon.
“It is such a wonderful feeling to give so much of my knowledge to children, and I am trying to turn these young men into adult men who know responsibility in the world,” he said. “Of course we are here for the sport, but I am also here to make you a good person.”
“It’s amazing, because with all his ability he shows it to us, so we know what he is capable of and he is teaching us everything,” Leo repeated.
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