I am happy to say that I know four young adults that contradict this stereotype, they are doing there best to reintroduce are sport that has been lost to the Shoalhaven for a number of years – waterpolo. 

Waterpolo was a small but thriving sport in the Shoalhaven for as long as I can remember until about five years ago when a number of the club officials left the area and winter sports clubs started summer competitions.

These sports had a large club networks and winter members so getting known and setting up a competition was easier and had a flow on effect to get known by others but it had the sad side effect of taking numbers away from the existing summer sports and the larger clubs  got more numbers at the expense of sports like waterpolo. A few years ago, waterpolo ceased in the Shoalhaven.

Some young adults that played as juniors are trying to restore waterpolo as a viable sport in the Shoalhaven but they need help to get known and have people come along and try it. Illawarra Waterpolo are kindly making waterpolo here possible by allowing us to be a social southern branch of their club, many thanks for making our efforts possible. As I have said, it is a social night to enjoy sport and exercise so it is a great time to come and learn. It is a very family friendly sport because all members of the family can enjoy a sport on the same night at the same time, no trying to get here and there with the children and missing out your self.

Waterpolo and flipperball is played on Wednesday nights from 6-7.30pm at Nowra Pool. Teams are mixed ages and sexes with juniors playing flipperball at the same time. It is a very low cost sport as the registration fee is $30 for seniors and $20 for juniors and the $8 and $6 per week to cover pool hire. A full season can be paid up front if you would like a discount. There are no additional costs, no uniforms or safety gear required just turn up in what you prefer for swimming. 

Waterpolo has a proud tradition in this area, we used to have a large number of flipperball players, an under 14s team, an under 16s team, a ladies team, mens team and Navy teams. Tournaments were held with Canberra and Bowral teams and senior team competed in NSW competitions. It would be nice to see waterpolo and flipperball have a place in the Shoalhaven and to see these young adults efforts to be a success,  but for that we need more players. If you are looking for a fun social night and enjoyable exercise give waterpolo a try. For more information, visit illwp.com or phone 0458012790.