A Splash of Polo in Brooklyn

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN. Water polo is not recognizable to many Brooklynites—in fact any who make a connection with the esoteric sport speak of seeing it in the Olympics—but polo has found a home at Long Island University’s pool in Downtown Brooklyn.

On a recent Sunday morning 23 boys and girls ages 7 to 12 are bobbing around to whistles of coaches from the Brooklyn Hustle Waterpolo Club. Participants’ abilities vary widely; some can barely keep their heads above water while others confidently execute their strokes.

For Mike Byrd, lead coach on deck, it’s gratifying to work with a pool filled of polo novices.

“We’ve been trying to get splashball—to get pool time and create a funnel for kids to get into water polo—for a couple of years,” said Byrd, who coaches for the Hustle as well as being an assistant to LIU’s women’s collegiate team. “Outside of California, it’s tough for kids to get exposed to polo.”

A key program component has been enticing interest from the child-rich communities that surround LIU.

“Lowering the barrier of entry, especially for kids in the community, starting this program and having 25 – 30 kids interested, that’s pretty awesome,” Byrd added. “It goes to show [splashball] is needed,”

The group includes sisters Rhea and Calista Gumbley, who attend school a few blocks from the LIU pool. Their father Michael was on the pool deck watching intently as his daughters, 12 and 10, go through polo’s paces.

“We got them in the water young [and] once they’re in you can’t get them out.” Gumbley said. “From the moment they could walk they’ve been swimming.”

A native of Australia, Gumbley knew polo athletes back in Sydney “Bloody hell that’s a rough sport,” he exclaimed, citing cameras during the Olympics which show how much action there is under water.

“My girls are interested in trying [polo] and I thought: ‘Let’s go!’ because it’s such a great workout,” he said, then added: “Playing on a team you learn how to win, you learn how to lose and [to] play with teammates.”

According to Byrd, the path to success is direct but difficult.

“One of the challenges in the Northeast is finding the right competition level, based on kids’ experience, for practice and games,” he said. “A lot of times you see kids who are beginners in water polo playing games against successful club program[s].

“It’s not the best experience for somebody starting out.”

To help players develop the Hustle separates its 100+ age group athletes by swim and polo ability. Which makes it essential that an entry level program exist to identify and develop prospects for the club’s competitive teams

“it’s important to fill all the gaps so we don’t lose kids who could get really good at water polo but don’t like [their] first experience and quit,” Byrd added.

A 12-year-old with potential, Omega Moore is following his sister Selah, a goalie with the club’s 14U team, into the water. His mother Nicole now has two children in a sport that six months ago she knew little about.

“After watching his sister play, I’m happy he gets the opportunity,” Moore said. “He was apprehensive about whether or not he’d like the sport. [After] he got out of the water he said: ‘I like this!’”

She knows her son has his worked cut out for him—but he’s willing because he wants to be like his sister.

“We have conversations about Selah, who really enjoys her position, and [that] he’s got to find his place in the water,” Moore said.

Omega has competed in other sports but there’s little to compare with the teamwork necessary for polo success.

“He’s done track and tennis, but this is different. For those sports it’s about you as an individual,” she said. “He’s learning that the person to his left and the person to his right are counting on him.”

Tania Alvarez is on the pool deck with her twenty-something daughter while her son, Elijah, 8, is in the pool treading water.

“He’s enjoying learning how to swim different strokes and [play] defense,” said Alvarez, who shares a love of the water with her son. “He likes to be on the outside because he knows that eventually the ball will find him.”

Asked about polo, she said she’d watched it during the Olympics, then cited comparisons to basketball, soccer and volleyball. But, seeing it live has been an eye-opening experience:

“We learned that water polo [is] more sports all mixed up in water—and the exercises are amazing,” Alvarez said, then added: “Elijah’s told me that since coming to LIU he wants a water sport to be his profession.”