Water polo

Water polo is a team ball sport, which, as the name suggests, is played in
deep (too deep to stand) water.

Invented in the late nineteenth century in Great Britain and played in many
countries around the world, notably including Hungary, the game involves
teams of seven players (plus up to five substitutes), with a ball similar in
size to a soccer ball but constructed out of waterproof nylon. The goal of
the game is to throw the ball into the team's goal net at the end of the
pool, and prevent the opposition from doing so at the other end of the pool.

The game is divided into four quarters, each of seven minutes. The clock is
not stopped within a quarter. A team may not have possession of the ball for
longer than 35 seconds without shooting for the goal - after this time,
possession passes to the other team.

Dimensions of the water polo pool are not fixed and can vary between 20 x 10
and 30 x 20 metres, and are filled with water to a minimum depth of at least
1.8 metres. The goals are 3 metres wide. One player on each team is
designated the goalkeeper, and their primary job is to guard the goals,
deflecting or catching any shots at goal. The goalkeeper is the only player
who can touch the ball with both hands at any time.

Players can move the ball by throwing it to a teammate or swimming whilst
pushing the ball in front of them. Players are not permitted to push the
ball underwater when being tackled, or push or hold the opposition unless
they are holding the ball. This allows considerable amounts of holding and
pushing to occur to the ball carrier in addition to the holding pushing -
and worse - which take place under water and off the ball...not to mention
getting kicked in the testicles.

If a player is caught committing a sufficiently bad foul, typically an act
of brutality , he or she is sent out for 20 seconds or until the next goal,
whichever comes first. This creates a 'man-up' situation in which the
attacking team can reasonably expect to score, typically by adopting a 4-2
formation, and moving the goalkeeper out of position. If a player is sent
out three times, he or she must sit out the whole match.

At long range from the goals, shots at goal are usually easy for goalkeepers
to stop, but from closer in are very difficult. Hence, offensive and
defensive tactics often superficially resemble basketball.

Men's water polo was the first Olympic team sport in the 1900 games, but
women's water polo was only introduced in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games
after political protests from the Australian women's team. Such protests
were rewarded when Australia won the gold medal match against the United
States with a "buzzer-beater" last-minute goal.

The annual Varsity Match between Oxford and Cambridge Universities is the
longest running waterpolo fixture in the world, having run since 1893. The
most famous waterpolo match in history is probably the 1956 Summer Olympics
semi-final match between Hungary and the Soviet Union. As the athletes left
for the games, a 200,000 strong Soviet army crushed a small uprising of
Hungarian freedom fighters. Many of the Hungarian athletes vowed never to
return home, and felt their only means of fighting back was by victory in
the pool. The confrontation was the most bloody and violent waterpolo game
in history, in which the pool reputedly turned red from the blood spilt. The
Hungarians defeated the Soviets 4-0 before the game was called off in the
final minute to prevent angry Hungarians in the crowd reacting to Valentin
Prokopov punching Ervin Zador's eye open. The Hungarians continued to defeat
Yugoslavia 2-1 in the final.

Water polo world championships are held every year together with the world
swimming championship, under the auspices of FINA "Water Polo World League".

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