Winter Water Polo Starts This Month

Winter water polo programs start throughout the area this month.

United Water Polo’s winter program starts on Monday, November 14. United has a four day a week program (Monday through Thursday), and a two day a week program (Monday & Wednesday). All practices take place at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way. Contact mikewensman@gmail.com for more information.

Puget Sound Polo has a winter program starting on Sunday, November 27 at Curtis High School. Puget Sound Polo offers a boys program on Sundays, and a girls program on Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. PSPs practices take place at Lakes High School and Curtis High School. Contact pugetsoundpolo@gmail.com for more information.

Enumclaw Water Polo will offer Winter ‘Open Pool’ Workouts on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m., starting on Tuesday, December 6 at the Enumclaw Aquatic Center. Water Polo workouts are intended for middle school and high school girls who are interested in participating in high school water polo. Workouts are supervised by EHS coaches, led by veteran high school players, and cost $3⁵⁰. For more information contact coach Bob Averill at bobaverill@earthlink.net.

What Is The Toughest Sport In The World?

The Bleacher Report has rated water polo the toughest sport in the world:

"Often overlooked in discussions, this Olympic sport is officially the toughest sport in the world.

Similar to the land-based handball that was not too far from the list itself, water polo is played, well, in water.

With a lot of kicking and grabbing going on under the surface, and all sorts of sly blows in the water, polo is highly ranked in physicality. Like ice hockey did for the fact it was on ice, polo receives a boost to skill level, as the game itself is supplemented by the need to not drown during it.

Often overlooked are the speed and strength needed by players as they move through the water, and more importantly the fact that players are not permitted to touch the floor.

Try going to your local pool and treading water for more than 30 minutes, then imagine playing an intense contact sport in that time, and you will realize why water polo scored so well for endurance.

Often seen as a minority sport, it is hugely popular in eastern Europe, and truly is the toughest sport in the world."

Bellevue Beats Newport in Championship Game

Bellevue beat Newport 15-8 in Saturday's championship game at the King County Aquatic Center to claim the 2011 Washington State Boys Water Polo Championship. Newport beat Emerald Ridge and Puyallup on Thursday, Rogers on Friday, and Auburn Mountainview earlier on Saturday on their trip to the championship game. Bellevue had beaten Wilson and Auburn Riverside on Thursday, Roosevelt on Friday, and Curtis on Saturday before winning the championship game

Curtis beat Auburn Mountainview in Saturday's 6:30 game to claim third place at State.

Final placement from Saturday's games:

1. Bellevue
2. Newport
3. Curtis
4. Auburn Mountainview
5. Roosevelt
6. Rogers
7. Wilson
8. Puyallup

Hornets Lose Two at State, Finish Season

The Enumclaw High School Boys Water Polo Team ended their 2011 season with two losses at the State tournament on Thursday, at Rogers High School in Puyallup. The Hornets finished their season with a 14-13 overall record.

Enumclaw opened play on Thursday against the defending State champion Curtis Vikings in a 4:10 contest. Curtis showed why they're the defending champions, beating the Hornets 19-2. In their second game, at 6:30, the Hornets faced Roosevelt. Roosevelt got off to a great start against the Hornets, holding a 6-1 lead after one quarter.

The Enumclaw squad fought back to a 4-9 deficit at halftime, and pulled within four after three periods, but couldn't keep up with the Roughriders through the final quarter.

Mason Culp and Quinn Warner each scored a goal in the Hornets first game. In the second game, Bennon VanHoof scored six and Will Cooper and Gabe Sales each scored one.

Other teams that lost two games in the opening round at State to finish their season were Auburn Riverside, Peninsula, and Emerald Ridge. You can find up-to-date scores from State tournament play here.

The Hornets will conclude their 2011 season on Tuesday, November 15 with an Awards Banquet at the EHS Library, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.

State Seeding Announced

The seeding for this week's State Water Polo Tournament was announced at Tuesday night's coaches' meeting; Enumclaw was seeded 10th in the tournament. The 12 teams in the tournament were seeded as follows:

1. Newport
2. Bellevue
3. Curtis
4. Rogers
5. Auburn Mountainview
6. Roosevelt
7. Auburn-Riverside
8. Puyallup
9. Peninsula
10. Enumclaw
11. Wilson
12. Emerald Ridge

Enumclaw will play in Group C on Thursday, at Rogers High School in Puyallup. The Hornets will face Curtis at 4:10, and Roosevelt at 6:30. The top two teams in each group will advance to the second round of tournament play on Friday, at King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

Roosevelt Advances to State Over Bainbridge Island

With a 13-6 win over Bainbridge Island on Halloween at the King County Aquatic Center, the Roosevelt Roughriders advance to Thursday's State tournament as the third seed from the North Division. The loss ends the season for Bainbridge; they will not advance to the State tournament.

The lineup at State will include Auburn Mountainview, Auburn Riverside, Enumclaw, Wilson, Curtis, Rogers, Puyallup, Peninsula, Emerald Ridge, Newport, Bellevue, and Roosevelt. Seeding will be announced at Tuesday night's coaches' meeting. Check out this web site for an updated tournament schedule after Tuesday night's practice.