St. Francis in the House at York College Water Polo Clinic
JAMAICA, QUEENS. Last Sunday saw a joyous afternoon of water polo and splash ball at York College, a CUNY campus closer to Long Island than Manhattan. Two former St. Francis College water polo players—Carl Quigley, long-time SFC polo coach and aquatics director as well as a graduate of the class of 1975, and Gary Walunas, one of Quigley’s former players—led 50+ athletes ages 5 to 15 through water polo drills, skills and game play over two hours at the York College pool.
Happy but tired after two hours of polo drills / play at York College. Photo: M. Randazzo
The event, sponsored by Black People Will Swim, Inclusive Community Wellness, and USA Water Polo brought together swimmers from local programs eager for an introduction to polo, considered to be the most exciting sport in the water.
Quigley, whose half-century association with St. Francis was ended by the school’s abrupt termination of all athletics in March 2023, still wears his Terrier pride on his sleeve—and in the water.
“Two SFC WP alums preaching the water polo gospel at York College on a Sunday afternoon,” he said. “It doesn’t get better than that.”
Speaking about his involvement with water polo, Quigley added: “I am so privileged to have had the opportunity to have played and coached water polo. Nothing gives me greater joy than to share my love of the game with the next generation of players.”
Walunas, a 1986 St. Francis graduate who played water polo and was also the Terrier swim coach from 2003 - 08, was thrilled to bring polo to the pool where he coaches the Cardinals’ mens and womens swimmers.
Carl Quigley showing the proper way to hold a water polo ball. Photo: M. Randazzo
“Today was a great success,” he said. “As a swim coach I use water polo as a reward; I would love to see this program continue and make water polo a reality instead of a reward."
Also connecting back to the legacy of St. Francis, which for 70 years was among the country’s top polo programs, were Aaron Gershkovich, who started his club career at SFC’s Pope Center pool, and Guga Surguladze, a former swimmer for the Terriers, on hand to connect young learners with the sport.
Parents appreciated the sport’s focus on team play.
“Both my son and daughter participated yesterday at the water polo event. My daughter did swim team but stopped because swimming by herself feels lonely,” said Cece Yang about daughter Victoria. “She wants to do a sport that has teammates, so she enjoyed this a lot.
“I don’t want her to stop training completely, so water polo would be a great substitute. She can keep swimming and have teammates every time she is in the water.”
Paulana Lamonier, who runs a robust learn-to-swim program for children and adults at York College, sees a bright future for polo in her pool.
“In our efforts to introduce the world of water polo to the Jamaica, Queens community, we were thrilled to see the turn out and engagement of not only the students, but the parents,” Lamonier said. “We know this will not be the last water polo clinic.”
Plans are underway for a regular polo practice schedule at York as well as joint programming with Commonpoint Queens, which offers water polo training in nearby Forest Hills, to grow the sport in New York City’s most diverse borough.