New to Water Polo

Welcome to Water Polo with The University of Queensland Water Polo Club, this page has been developed in response to frequent questions we get via email from our younger age groups; if it is missing anything you were wondering about, please let us know. Click here if you are a senior player (17+).

Water Polo in Brisbane

The busiest time of year for Water Polo are the warmer months with Brisbane Summer Competition, State Titles and the Australian Youth Water Polo Festival. Refer to more details at this link > Brisbane Water Polo

The University of Queensland Water Polo Club

UQWPC also entered teams in the inaugural Queensland Premier League Competition completed at the end of 2020, both our Mens and Womens teams won silver.

Till recently, we were the only club that also had teams entered in the National League, a unique pathway for our players. WPA Placed our National League License on hold for Summer 2019-21 as a consequence of a review of the National Competition Framework. However, we aim to come back strong in 2022-2023

Entry Points & Starting Out

We endeavour to run New to Water Polo (N2WP) programs each during each school term.. These programs teach Water Polo basics and are great introduction to our sport.

If you are reading this mid-season get in contact with us as we may have spots for whatever portion of the season remain

Age Groups & Eligibility

Unlike some sports Water Polo has a four-year eligibility policy and age groups are based on the year of birth (YOB). The following table summarises the eligibility for our youngest age groups and the pattern continues.

Put another way, in U12’s the oldest kids are born in 2009 and the youngest are 2012.

The Summer Competition has two division for U12 boys and three for girls – this allows separation of the more and less experienced players

Player Numbers Per Team

Teams comprise a maximum of thirteen (13) players; One (1) goalie and twelve (12) field players. Six (6) players start on the field and Six (6) players on the bench – unlimited substitutions occur during the game.

Team Allocations and Selection - Boys

For our U12 and U13 age groups we have a "play with your mates" policy; we will endeavour to put friends in the same team; however, this is not always possible. Older age groups are graded.

U12 Boys have an A and B division, other age groups are not split.

For the 2020-21 Summer Competition Barras fielded two (2) of each U12, U13 and U14 Boys Teams.

Team Allocations and Selection - Girls

Due to the larger size of the girls competition the teams are split into A, B and C Divisions. Whilst we make an effort for our youngest girls to "play with their mates" this is not always possible.

For the 2020-21 Summer Competition Barras fielded two (2) U12, two (2) U13 and one (1) U14 Girls Teams.

Training Times and Locations

We encourage our players to attend two sessions a week, however, understand that it is not always possible and will point out that a number of our U12’s only attend one session and we are OK with that.

Training locations and times will vary each season depending on pool and coach availability, for Summer 2020-21 sessions were;

Training Requirements

Please bring running shoes for some dry land training and swimming googles should be available as well.

We do request that our players participate in a swim squad in parallel with pure Water Polo commitments. If you need a recommendation of swimming clubs in your area, we can provide a list of swimming clubs that our athletes train at, just ask!

Competition Times and Locations

Brisbane Water Polo allocate pool locations and a block of game times per age group at the start of each season. Games are split into four quarters and run for approximately 30 minutes.

For Summer 2020-21 our U12 and U13 teams Boys played each week at Somerville House and the Girls at All Hallows on a Saturday, girls in the morning and boys in the afternoon.

Registration & Costs

All players are required to be registered with Water Polo Australia prior to jumping in the pool. The cost for this and club related costs from last season are listed at this link > Water Polo Costs

Gear for Game Day

All players selected in representative teams are required to wear UQWPC / Barras Uniform; and also, we encourage it each weekend. For the first few weeks normal swimwear is fine.

Girls will need a black & white swim cap and UQWPC / Barras Hoodies are available for the colder months. Most of our players also order a Backpack to lug their gear around in. Items are available from the website shop.

Coaches and Managers

The club will allocate a coach to each team however do we ask for a parent volunteer as a team manager. Managers will require a Blue Card and the club can assist with the application process.

Our youngest teams do tend to provide a learning ground for our younger coaches however there will be a senor coach not too far away.

The club provides an age group coordinator for U12-U14 and then U15 and Older age groups in an effort to make sure things run smoothly.

Communication – Team App

We use Team App for club communications and each team has a dedicated chat room – mangers will confirm game times and the like and if you can’t make training or a game this is the place to post.

An email invitation will be sent when you are setup in the system.

Table Duty

Each week teams are required to provide a representative to do table duty each game. Team managers will generate a roster for this.

Roles are either Secretary (Scorecard) or Timekeeper (Clock) with first in best dressed as to which one is allocated. It can be daunting, but a referee was allocated to assist with this each game. The U12 games are the place to learn.

Representative Teams

The University of Queensland Water Polo Club enters teams into the QLD State Championships and the Australian Youth Water Polo Championships, and these include our U12’s. Durign Summer 2019-20 our U12 Boys won Silver in the State Championships and then went on to win Gold at the AYWPC.

We also encourage our youngest players to participate in these events; they will play more games in a single tournament than half the summer season and whilst they may not win many games, their improvement in a short period is enormous.