Water Polo
- Thread starter Wibble
- Start date
Well, Serbia now sucks at it so there is that. It was an awesome decade but new generation is pathetic. Hello mediocrity and let's see who the new champs will be.
Could be worse. Australia no longer has any elite male programs either at Federal or State level. Funding has been slashed across the board despite funding already being very poor. The non-pro league isn't of a very good standard and it isn't easy to get a spot on a decent overseas league with the 2 foreigner limit.
Serbia aren't as good as they were but I think you are better than you think. Although maybe Paris is a bit early for this cohort.
I'm also assuming Serbian clubs (and other countries in the region) have also suffered financially recently as more elite players than before seem to be playing outside of the Balkans?
Spain and Greece are looking good imo.
Spain is amazing in all sports and I'm so envious. My friend moved to Spain and they have these programs where it is so easy to play sports even on amateur level. It is a true sports nation.
As far as Serbian waterpolo league goes, it struggles with funding and what were once good teams, no longer exist. Top talent always played in Italy mostly but some decent players played in top Serbian, Croatian of Montenegrian teams.
It is a great sport, too bad not many people care about it. Waterpolo players are exceptionally well built people, the only problem is that some get extremely overweight after ending their career.
My son will be one of those who has to watch his weight when he stops playing as he is a 195cm and about 110kg centre forward.
He plays for Peristeri in Athens and when he signed all the other interested clubs were Italian or Greek, with no enquiries from Serbia, Montenegro or Croatia, which perhaps suggest money is tight (or it could mean that nobody needed a young centre forward).
From what I know about water polo, center forwards are hard to find, especially good ones. You have to massive, strong, agile and off course skillful. I think Serbia, Montenegro and Hungary don't have shortage of massive guys. In USA at 5'10" I feel fine. In Belgrade I feel like a midget.
Good ones are hard to find as you need all the things that you mention and you also need to have great stamina and speed. It is also a very technical role which is why centre forwards often mature later than other players.
As for size, my son is 6ft 5in and in his Greek team he isn't particularly tall
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That’s amazing your son is playing professionally. Congrats! You must be very proud.
Croatia is pretty good at it, current European champions and Mladost (the best waterpolo club in the century by LEN) and Jug have legendary status as clubs.
The fact about 5 or 6 countries in the world are good at it helps.
As I get and I dont track the sport that much, Italian league is where its at right now.
The fact about 5 or 6 countries in the world are good at it helps.
As I get and I dont track the sport that much, Italian league is where its at right now.
Thanks - and for such a big club on a half decent salary (by water polo standards). Even more unusual is that he got recruited mid season after only graduating in the US at Christmas.
Proud doesn't cover it tbh. He also made his debut for the Aussie Sharks recently against Montenegro and scored 2 on debut. He then played one game for them at the recent World Cup and scored again.
So all going well at the moment.
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Croatian clubs including Jug seem to have dropped off the pace recently. Funding probably being a big factor. I'd say Italy, Greece and Spain have the strongest leagues at the moment with Barcelonetta (Sp), Pro Recco (It) and Olympiacos (Gr) probably being the best 3 clubs in the world.
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My daughter played for GB. Gave up when she was in the U18s because she came to realise that she’d feck up her imminent A-levels if she carried on.
She’s yet to return to it, and became pretty disillusioned with the setup which was totally unfunded and relied on the dedication of parents to operate. Swim GB regard it as a marginal activity at best.
She is very slim and slight, though amazingly strong for her size, and shows that you don’t have to be, er, beefy to excel at the top level.
She’s yet to return to it, and became pretty disillusioned with the setup which was totally unfunded and relied on the dedication of parents to operate. Swim GB regard it as a marginal activity at best.
She is very slim and slight, though amazingly strong for her size, and shows that you don’t have to be, er, beefy to excel at the top level.
What a shame. So many talented players quit for a lack of funding and related issues. It is the same story in Australia now. We personally funded all sorts of interstate trips and international trips to things like Youth and World Championships. And although he got a full fee scholarship to Uni in the US the accom and food etc wasn't free, so we ended up spending A$40-50,000 per year for just over 4 years. So not an accessible sport for most people barring a few countries.
Academically it worked out but my son didn't do that well at his HSC (A levels), which is hardly surprising given he spent 16 weeks a year on tour overseas for both HSC years. But he worked his arse off for a few weeks and did much better at the US SAT, allowing him to take up an offer from a very good Uni in California. So that worked out well but it might well not have done.
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Ah yes, funding is a huge problem in all of Croatian sport, including water polo. Both Jug and Mladost dropped of. Mladost had big financial problems in the past, dont know whats the sitation now. Also they completely changed the colours, logo and look which I dont like but that's a theme for some other time maybe.
Yeah mine had aspirations for a water polo scholarship in the US, but they evaporated once she started to get disillusioned.
She’s working as an au-pair just outside Madrid and having a great time (acquired a Sicilian boyfriend who she’s bringing home for this weekend; a United fan apparently
) prior to university in London in the autumn.One problem with relying on parents doing the coaching is that however capable and well-intentioned they are, there will always be a whiff of nepotism.
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It is easier for women to get a US Uni scholarship as the NCAA allow Div 1 and 2 team to award up to 8 full scholarships, although not many Uni's full fund them as it isn't a money making sport. The men only get a maximum of 4 per team. That said GB players face a huge challenege getting scholarships due to not generally qualifying for competitions like the Youth and Junior World Championships, so even if there are players good enough to get a scholarship the US Uni's don't know about them and/or haven't seen them play. Australian players are better placed but still have challenges.Yeah mine had aspirations for a water polo scholarship in the US, but they evaporated once she started to get disillusioned.
She’s working as an au-pair just outside Madrid and having a great time (acquired a Sicilian boyfriend who she’s bringing home for this weekend; a United fan apparently
One problem with relying on parents doing the coaching is that however capable and well-intentioned they are, there will always be a whiff of nepotism.
As for parents as coaches, it is generally not a great idea for the reasons you state, but also 99.9% of parents simply don't have the skills and experience to coach water polo at any decent level. But what do you do if there are no $ to import coaches?
With small sports like water polo you also find that it can be as much about who you are/know/are related to as talent, which can be very frustrating. My son went overseas partly to get away from that at both National and Club level. He was very disillusioned at times and only carried on at times because he loves playing so much. He found the experience in the US totally different where players, coaches and parents were all for one and one for all. In this environment he thrived even more. And when he graduated it was his US coach (and amazingly other US coaches at other Uni's like Berkeley, who he only knows from playing them) who were telling Europen clubs about him. Water Polo AU and his club did feck all to get him to the US or a pro gig. It was hilarious when they heard he was now playing at a top Greek team and the third best payed AU player in the world (still almost hilariously little compared to money sports).
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Legendary Yugoslavian team - 1984 Olympic Champions, 1986 World Champions, 1988 Olympic Champs again. What happened to Great Britain and Water polo? Invented the sport and won first 4 Olympic tournaments - then nothing (except 4th place in 1928).
Mainly a lack of funding and interest for generations. And Ireland also used to be good way back in the mists of time.
Legendary Yugoslavian team - 1984 Olympic Champions, 1986 World Champions, 1988 Olympic Champs again. What happened to Great Britain and Water polo? Invented the sport and won first 4 Olympic tournaments - then nothing (except 4th place in 1928).
Lots of interesting end of season games (well interesting to me at least).
In the Champions League Pro Recco (Italy), Barcelonetta (Spain), Olympiacos (Greece) and probably Vouliagmeni (Greece) may well end of as the top for. The first 3 will likely be the overall winners. I follw the Greek teams as my son plays in the Greek 1st Divison, my son knows Barcelonetta players and the coach (former AU national coach, Elvis Fatovic) and also knows players at Pro Recco.
From a personal perspective the 5th to 8th playoffs in the Greek Div 1is interesting (as my son plays for Peristeri) because only the top 5 get a European spot next year. Peristeri just eliminated Panathanikos 2-0 (so no need for game 3) and they then play the winner of PAOK vs Ethnikos (1-1) for 5th/6th. It was great for us to watch the Panathanikos game as we don't always get footage or a stream and he had a great game, scoring 4 out of their 11 goals, which is a good return at centre forward. Apologies for the crappy video editing - not one of my key skills.
In the Champions League Pro Recco (Italy), Barcelonetta (Spain), Olympiacos (Greece) and probably Vouliagmeni (Greece) may well end of as the top for. The first 3 will likely be the overall winners. I follw the Greek teams as my son plays in the Greek 1st Divison, my son knows Barcelonetta players and the coach (former AU national coach, Elvis Fatovic) and also knows players at Pro Recco.
From a personal perspective the 5th to 8th playoffs in the Greek Div 1is interesting (as my son plays for Peristeri) because only the top 5 get a European spot next year. Peristeri just eliminated Panathanikos 2-0 (so no need for game 3) and they then play the winner of PAOK vs Ethnikos (1-1) for 5th/6th. It was great for us to watch the Panathanikos game as we don't always get footage or a stream and he had a great game, scoring 4 out of their 11 goals, which is a good return at centre forward. Apologies for the crappy video editing - not one of my key skills.
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