La Vallette to host water polo for first time since 1970s

Water Polo will be played at La Vallette Bathing Pools again for the first time since the 1970s with four teams visiting to play against the home team in a special tournament at the weekend.

The Bathing Pools was the hub of water polo action back in the 1950s and 60’s when regular ‘Water Gymkhanas’ were held featuring polo matches as well as diving displays and ‘fancy floating’, which appears to be an early version of what’s now known as artistic swimming!

Crowds in their thousands would be drawn to these floodlit galas and Guernsey Water Polo LBG is hoping to recreate some of that excitement with their forthcoming tournament.

The event starts at 12 noon on Saturday 2^nd July and there will be men’s, women’s and mixed matches featuring teams from Worthing, Basingstoke, Mid Sussex Marlins, Jersey and Guernsey

Matches will consist of two halves of 10 minutes each.

‘Everyone is welcome to come down and watch,’ said James Cooper, Head Coach for Guernsey Water Polo.

The local club was only re-established again in 2015 but has already had some notable successes.

‘For such a small club we’re doing really well,’ said James.

‘We’ve got three girls currently in the national squad and in total we’ve had six of our youngsters playing for the South-East regional team in the National Championships.’

James said water polo is a great sport for swimmers looking for a complementary activity or for people who have played other ball sports and are looking for something different to try.

‘Water polo is easy to pick up; you just need to be a strong swimmer and have a general understanding of ball sports.’

The club is hoping that Saturday’s tournament at La Vallette will introduce the sport to a new audience.

‘We just want to raise the profile of the sport.

‘We definitely want to go out and get new members and are planning to host weekly matches down at La Vallette during the whole of August.’