Part 7 (1/2)

PART IV

WATER POLO

AS A PASTIME

Water polo has become one of the most popular and fascinating of all water sports. It can be indulged in by very good swimmers only. It affords abundant opportunity for the exhibition of skill and endurance.

For the following account of water polo the author is indebted to a volume from Spalding's Athletic Library, ent.i.tled ”Water Polo,” written by L. de B. Handley, permission to use it having kindly been granted by the publishers:

The value of an athletic game or contest is determined by four things: Its physical-culture merits; its utility; its attractiveness as a pastime, and its spectacular features.

Water polo has few equals as a means of developing the body. The swimming alone in it would insure general and symmetrical development, but the player wrestles besides, during a game, and every part of the body is given its proportionate share of this gruelling work, developing all muscles in a uniform way.

As to its utility, it is self-evident. Swimming has come to be looked upon as a necessity, simply because it may be the means of saving life, and in this water polo is the most practical of teachers. A player is coached on how to free himself from every kind of a tackle, how to a.s.sist an exhausted team-mate and how to apply the best methods of resuscitation when any one is knocked out. Then these teachings have to be practised frequently while the team is at work, and one becomes proficient insensibly and as a matter of course. It is a revelation to see an expert player handle a drowning person, and more especially a frantic one. The rescue is performed in such an easy, matter-of-fact way as to lead one to wonder at the halo of heroism that surrounds most cases of life-saving. Hardly a player but has several rescues to his credit, which he looks upon as a series of trifling services rendered to a fellow mortal, and no more.

As a pastime water polo is among the leaders. Hard and exhausting it may be, but there is an exhilaration in das.h.i.+ng about the pool, fighting one's way to goal, that no other game gives. And it has a feature that appeals strongly to the man who has attained manhood and its numerous responsibilities--the rarity of accidents. Bruises and knockouts one gets a-plenty, but those serious injuries which mar football, hockey and lacrosse are totally unknown.

ITS EVOLUTION IN AMERICA

There is a belief that a game similar to water polo was played by the ancients, but no actual proof of it has been found. Rules were first formulated in England in 1870, and we adopted them in America about 1890, but our present game bears absolutely no resemblance to the one that was then played. In the latter, points were scored by throwing an inflated rubber ball nine inches in diameter through an open goal marked by uprights and a cross-bar; and pa.s.sing was the feature of the game.

Americans found it unsuited. The few available tanks were so small that there was no place for action, and the outdoor season was too short to be satisfactory.

The idea was then conceived of changing the goal into a solid surface, four feet by one in size, and to oblige the scorer to touch the ball to the goal while holding it, instead of pa.s.sing it.

The innovation met ready favor, but, as may be imagined, transformed the game. From an open pa.s.sing one water polo became one of close formations and fierce scrimmages. These, at first, were disorderly scuffles, where weight and brute strength reigned supreme, but little by little strict rules were formulated to eliminate rough tactics, and then science became an important factor.

In 1897 a man entered the field who was destined to revolutionize the system of play.

Harold H. Reeder, of the late Knickerbocker Athletic A.C., besides being a good leader and a brilliant individual player, knew how to handle men.

He realized that in a growing sport new ideas would mean development, and he made it possible for the members of his squad to experiment with those they had. The system he used is worth a few words of explanation, because it was accountable for the wonderful strides made since 1897, and because every team will profit by its adoption.

Reeder, well aided by Prof. Alex. Meffett, began by teaching every candidate the rudiments of the game; veterans and greenhorns alike were put through the mill. Each was schooled in the principles of swimming, diving, catching, pa.s.sing, scoring, interfering, tackling and breaking, until these points had been thoroughly mastered, and only then did the team practise begin. But again, no player was allowed in unprepared.

Reeder inst.i.tuted blackboard practise and saw that every one attended it. Placing before his a.s.sembled squad the possible formations, he made players selected at random explain the duties of every position in each formation. By this system he obliged every player to use his brains, and he found out the amount of water-polo intelligence that each possest. He also imparted to each the ideas of all the others, he taught them how to fill every position and he brought to light many new plays.

The progress which the innovation was responsible for no one realized until the aggregation of yearlings from the Knickerbocker Athletic Club defeated the formidable array of champions representing the New York Athletic Club. Reeder abandoned the game two years later, but his good work lived after him, and some of his team-mates held the champions.h.i.+p for many years by following his teachings.

HOW THE GAME IS NOW PLAYED

Water polo as played to-day in America is rather dangerous for outdoors, and indoor pools are generally used. It is a contest between two teams of six, having as object the touching of the opponent's goalboard with an inflated rubber ball seven inches in diameter, which the referee throws into the water at start of play.

In order to score, the ball has to be touched to the goal while in the hand of a player; it can not be thrown. The goals are s.p.a.ces four by one foot, situated at each short end of the playing area, eighteen inches above the water level. The size of the playing area is optional, tho the recognized dimensions are 60 x 40 feet or 25 x 75 feet, with a uniform depth of seven feet of water. Imaginary lines are drawn across the tank (see Fig. T), parallel to the short ends, at four and fifteen feet from them. The first, called four-foot line, serves as protection to the goal-tenders and can not be crossed until the ball is within; the other is the foul line, and serves to mark the spot on which the forwards line up on being given a free trial. The four-foot line also marks the goal section, a s.p.a.ce 4 x 8 feet, in which indiscriminate tackling is allowed when the ball is within.

Each team of six is divided into a forward line (center, right forward and left forward) whose duty it is to attack the opponent's goal; and a backfield of three (half-back, right goal-tender and left goal-tender), upon whom devolves the defense of the home goal.

At the start of play the two teams line up their respective ends, the referee places the ball in the middle of the playing area and then blows a whistle. At this signal the twelve players dive in, the forwards to make a dash for the ball, the backs to take up their positions. The forward who first reaches the ball tosses it back to the defense men, who hold it until the line of attack is formed and then pa.s.s it back.

Immediately a fierce scrimmage takes place and either a score is made or the ball changes side and a scrimmage occurs at the other end. After the score the teams line up as at start of play.