Whether you're interested in something new, looking for a challenging workout, or even seeking a national championship, the Columbia club water polo team may have what you are looking for. But don't let the physically daunting aspects of the game intimidate you—nothing beyond an interest in water polo is required to join the team.
"We get guys who are just swimmers coming in and are complete beginners, to people who played club water polo or high school water polo," recreational sports consultant Igor Samardzija said. "This season has actually been our best one so far in terms of getting new players."
Despite being a relatively young program, the team has proven its ability to overcome difficulties in the past and has high hopes this year of winning the New York Division Championship and advancing to the National Championship. In the fall of 2006, the team managed to win the division championship game against one of its biggest rivals, Army, in one of its few home matches.
This season, both rookies and veterans alike look to repeat this success. In order to achieve this, Samardzija seeks a perfect tournament record for the year, which will allow the team to enter the championship as the highest seed of the nine schools in the division. Having a perfect record, however, will require victories against Army and NYU, both of which will be among the greatest challenges for the team this season. Columbia will face both teams this weekend at NYU.
"A lot of time we're the underdogs, and we don't really have any fans at our games, but we overcome teams with a lot of fans," co-captain Joseph Matuk said.
The team's current roster is composed of a 30-player mix of both undergraduate and graduate students, and team membership has risen greatly during the past few years due to an influx of undergraduate players.
"Three or four years ago, we had only four people on the team and three balls in the cage. But the program is growing stronger," Samardzija said.
Practices run three times a week from 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays and on Sundays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Uris Pool at Dodge Fitness Center. Should you attend, you may be surprised to find women practicing with the men's team, since water polo is the only sport in which women are allowed to play on a men's team in competitive play. Women also have their own season, which runs in the spring.
Practice begins with conditioning exercises followed by ball-handling drills and scrimmages. At such an early point in the season, the emphasis is placed on conditioning and body development, which is the foundation for every other aspect of the game.
Although workouts and tournaments are taken seriously, Samardzija and his team realize that as a group of recreational players, winning is not the only benefit they can reap from membership. The toughest swim sets and leg exercises are punctuated with comic relief and laughter between
Samardzija and the rest of the team, creating an environment that promotes camaraderie.
"We try to give players good memories about Columbia and try to perhaps shift the mentality from an individual focus in school toward a team environment," Samardzija said.
Regardless of whether you choose to don a Speedo on your first outing with the team or not, expect a demanding workout at practice. But also expect to be among a group of men and women who love the lesser-known game of water polo and genuinely enjoy playing it.
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