Water Polo
Rules
Water Polo is an aquatic sport played in a
swimming pool, which consists of two teams, made out
of seven players each, trying to get a ball into the
other teams’ goal with their hands.
The swimming pool must measure thirty meters in
length, a width of twenty meters and a profundity of
no less than one meter with eighty centimeters. The
goals, which are placed at both ends of the pool,
emerge ninety centimeters from the water and there
is a three meter space between each post.
All seven members of each team must wear two
swimsuits, one on top of the other. They must also
wear a helmet that attaches to their chin and has
plastic protectors for the ears.
Some basic rules of water polo are the
following: the matches have a length of twenty
minutes in real game time, divided into four periods
of five minutes each, with a two minute break in
between every period. The ball may be held with only
one hand, but not with both, and it must not be hit
with a closed fist, except by the goalies. Other
penalties that may occur are: contact with opponent
team members that do not have possession of the
ball, you may not submerge or keep the ball under
the water, you may not shoot water at opponents
face, a team may not have possession of the ball
without shooting for goal for more than thirty
seconds, etc.
Ordinary penalties are penalized by giving
possession of the ball to the opponent team,
wherever the penalty was committed. More serious
penalties are penalized by taking the player who
committed it, out of the game for a period of time,
or by giving a penalty shot to the opponent team if
the penalty was committed inside the goal area.
The history of water polo as we know it today dates
back to 1885 and was practiced first in the United
Kingdom. Since the year of 1900, it has been
considered an Olympic sport for male contestants.
The first world championship took place in 1973 at
Belgrado. Oriental Europe players are considered to
be the highest quality players in the world, for all
their victories in world championships.
