Water sports have always had a special distinction in the sports category. Water Polo is one such game which is requires the players to have dual skills. One being the skill of being a swimmer and the other skill is a keen eye and judgment to see the ball coming.
Water Polo is a sport played between two teams in swimming pools which have a netted goal set up at each end. The competing teams make an attempt to score points by throwing a floating ball into the opponent’s goal. Each goal is counted as one point.
In the men’s water polo competition, the pool or water area must be a minimum of 20 meters wide and a maximum of 30 meter long, with a depth of 1.8 meters. In women’s competition, the playing area is lesser and measures 17 meters in width and 25 meters in length.
The ball used in the game of water polo resembles a soccer ball and is tightly inflated rubber spherical ball, circumferentially it is 68 to 71 cm and weighs 400 to 450 g.
The goals are rectangular netted frames of wood, plastic or metal that floats and is buoyant on the water surface. Each goal must be 30 cm deep, 3 meters wide, and 90 cm high from the water surface to the top of the frame.
A water polo team is made up of seven players which include a goalkeeper and six field players. The goalkeeper’s primary aim is to defend the goal without hanging onto the goal or using the side of the pool. Each team may also have six substitute players. Except the goalkeeper, each player is allowed to use only one hand at a time in handling the ball. According to the official rules one team uses white caps, while the other uses blue and red caps are exclusively for the goalies.
A water polo match requires two referees, two goal judges, two timekeepers, and two recorders. The game is divided into four periods of 7 minutes each, with a 2-minute interval between periods.