Seven swimmers. Two floating nets. One yellow-green ball. These are the components that make up water polo which is widely considered to be one of the toughest modern sports.

“ [ Water polo] is described as soccer, volleyball and swimming,” said Rachel Kannady, the Spartan swim team coach. 

Students who possessed an interest in water polo gathered in Kannady’s room to discuss bringing the sport to White Station.

 “We have a lot of swimmers who stay in the water anyway, and this way we can keep them in shape…It is normally a spring sport, but the league is switching it to a fall sport, so that it would happen before swim season starts,” said Kannady.

This is not the first of Kannady’s attempts to bring this unique sport to White Station; but she hopes that it will be the most successful. 

“For the last four years I have sent people to other schools because I have had two or three people show up.  You can’t make a team with two or three people一that’s not enough,” said Kannady. 

The plan is that by introducing the idea to potential team members both now and before the end of the school year, there will be enough Spartans to form a team for the fall season.  

“I think that it would be a lot of fun, but I think that it’s something that most people aren’t going to want to try because it’s not a normal sport,” said Annie Kannady (12). 

Despite the possible obstacles ahead, if enough Spartans decide to channel their athleticism and competitiveness into water polo, Rachel Kannady has full confidence that the team will succeed. 

“I like the idea of trying something new and bringing something new to White Station and getting kids excited about something else,” said Kannady.