<p>I want to be conversant with someone whose son is looking at Ivies and may be playing water polo. What do I need to know about water polo at the ivies, traditions, reputation, etc?</p>
<p>I’m going to take a guess that their reputation will be somewhat dependent on how many students from CA are admitted. Why do I say that? Take a look at the last US Mens Olympic Water Polo Team. If memory serves me correctly, they were ALL from CA (many also attended colleges in CA as well.) </p>
<p>I’ve often wondered why it is this way, as it’s not quite so tilted with swimming (e.g. Michael Phelps is from Baltimore) but it just is.</p>
<p>My S competes at the HS level in CA but frankly he’s too small to make varsity in college, although he may continue to compete at the club level for fun. He’s looking at Ivies but strictly from the academic side so sorry, I can’t help with that.</p>
<p>Apparently one of my high school classmates’ sons plays water polo, and is now attending the U.S. Naval Academy.</p>
<p>They are not from California.</p>
<p>Sure, water polo can be played wherever there’s a pool and players. It just seems to be more prevalent in CA, that’s all. If one is a strong swimmer to begin with, it’s not too difficult to learn the basics, I am told. However, water polo is very much a contact sport. Think rugby in a pool and you get the idea.</p>
<p>Rugby in a pool is a good description. The action that is seen above the water level is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak :)</p>
<p>I don’t know about the other Ivy League schools, but Cornell doesn’t have varsity water polo. It’s a club sport there:
[Welcome</a> to SAO - Cornell University](<a href=“http://sao.cornell.edu/SO/search.php?igroup=79&year=organizations]Welcome”>http://sao.cornell.edu/SO/search.php?igroup=79&year=organizations)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Water polo at the Ivies: How do they get the horses into the pool?</p></li>
<li><p>Speculative guess: 90% of entering Ivy students have never seen live human beings play competitive water polo. 89% of graduating Ivy students have never seen live human beings play competitive water polo.</p></li>
<li><p>When I was a student, my Ivy had varsity water polo. I knew several people on the team, one of them fairly well (the roommate of my best friend). I had never seen competitive water polo played before. I still haven’t.</p></li>
<li><p>In other words, they did it for themselves. It was not high status. They were all Californians. If they had been interested in / capable of Pac-10 level water polo, they wouldn’t have been there.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Top 20 D1 (which includes Ivies) for 2008 VERY heavily weighted to CA schools! As of December 10, 2008, Princeton and Brown were the only Ivies in the top 20. (Nat’l Championship held in December.)</p>
<p>[Collegiate</a> Water Polo Association](<a href=“http://www.collegiatewaterpolo.com/polls/varsitypolls/MenVarsity/2008MenVarsityPolls/Dec102008MenVarsityPoll/index]Collegiate”>http://www.collegiatewaterpolo.com/polls/varsitypolls/MenVarsity/2008MenVarsityPolls/Dec102008MenVarsityPoll/index)</p>
<p>You can go to the website of each school’s athletic program, and look at the Water Polo roster. </p>
<p>Here’s the one for Princeton. It looks like 15 of 23 on the list are from CA.<br>
[M</a>. Water Polo - ROSTER - GoPrincetonTigers.comThe Official Web Site of Princeton University Athletics](<a href=“http://www.goprincetontigers.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10600&SPID=4222&SPSID=46500]M”>http://www.goprincetontigers.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10600&SPID=4222&SPSID=46500)</p>
<p>As a very simplified way was to look at schools that might be of interest to your friend’s S — look at the roster for the school your friend is interested in. If there are lots of seniors and juniors in the position he’s good at…that’s a school that might be interested in him. If there are lots of freshman and sophomores in the position he’s good at…might be a little harder to get recruited. There’s a lot more to athletic recruiting than this simple review…but…it’s a place to start. There are many on this site with good input on athletic recruiting.</p>
<p>Thanks. The student is not from CA, does play water polo at a high level for an elite prep school and is Ivy material grade/score/EC wise (that is, he’s competitive for an Ivy).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Huh?</p>
<p>Oh, you want to talk!</p>
<p>I chose my words carefully! I don’t want to give unsolicited advice. I want to be conversant. It’s a real word.</p>
<p>Come play at Stanford. One of the best water polo program and academic program in the nation</p>
<p>The player has to be uber top notch if he wants to play at Stanford.</p>
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</p>
<p>Sorry, just bein’ ornery! :D</p>
<p>This student attends an elite prep school with GC of the sort I could only dream of. He has siblings who were athletically recruited and got full scholarships. I’m not looking for a primer on recruiting at D1 and/or Ivies. I’m asking if anyone has any QUALITATIVE info about the Ivy water polo programs. This one has lots of campus support, this one doesn’t. This one is considered easy to get onto, this one is hard. This one is known for having a great coach, this one isn’t. I want to be conversant in a social situation with the parent. I do not need to give recruiting advice nor does this kid or his family need my advice. Hope that’s clearer. Think cocktail party chatter!</p>
<p>Once again, I would suggest going to the specific schools athletic sites, and to the waterpolo page. There’s usually a “news” section. The news for Brown, which would provide some cocktail chatter states where the Class of 2013 recruits are from, what their record was last year, and where they were ranked nationally. Also…Brown was the top All-Academic water polo team last year. </p>
<p>[Brown</a> Bears](<a href=“http://www.brownbears.com/sports/m-wpolo/2008-09/news]Brown”>http://www.brownbears.com/sports/m-wpolo/2008-09/news)</p>
<p>Harvard has 2 new recruits and a new assistant coach.
[url=<a href=“http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/mwaterpolo/2009-10/news]GoCrimson.com[/url”>http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/mwaterpolo/2009-10/news]GoCrimson.com[/url</a>]</p>
<p>I’m sure you can find similar chit-chat info. on other specific school/team sites. The Collegiate Water Polo Association site will show you the top rated programs for the past few years, so you’ll be able to see which Ivy League schools have been the strongest.</p>
<p>And…another bit of info. I’d find interesting to talk about – it appears that Harvard Westlake school in CA is a feeder school for every Ivy League Water Polo team!</p>
<p>Well, I only know about water polo at one school, and that’s Princeton. I’m close with many guys on the team, and here’s what I’ve gathered. They really love their coach (know nothing about him…but they like him), they’re mostly from California, the team in general is VERY close and all good friends, they are a bunch of fun-loving guys, and the sport gets respect on campus. All in all, I think they’re great, and the girls water polo team is great too!</p>
<p>From what I’ve seen of water polo teams on the HS level in CA, they do tend to be a close knit group. My S does much of his socializing with teammates (granted, some were friends before they joined the team.) I believe because it is team oriented, water polo players are closer than swim team members, although many are one and the same. At our HS, water polo players must also compete on the swim team but not the reverse. The best swimmers will swim club during the water polo seasons (separate for boys and girls) and likely don’t want to mess up their mechanics doing the kind of swimming for water polo, which necessitates more of the body being out of the water.</p>
<p>Most of the best water polo players on the East Coast are from Maryland. This is because Maryland has very strong club swim teams and often water polo players start out on club swim teams.</p>