Start a Water Polo Team at Schuylkill Valley High School
Start a Water Polo Team at Schuylkill Valley High School
The Issue
Out of all of the high schools in the state of Pennsylvania, only 23 offer water polo for men and 22 offer it for women. Of those 23/22 schools, 8 are in District III, the district Schuylkill Valley competes. Of those 8 schools, 5 are in Berks county and all 5 of those offer the sport to both men and women. To show you the imbalance between schools with swim teams versus schools with water polo, there are 320 mens and 327 womens high school swim teams in PA. Not every swim team has a pool on their campus, but Schuylkill Valley does.
Schuylkill Valley has a long and respected history of high school swimming. We produce district and state championship individuals and teams. Just like cross country and track are cousin sports, swimming and water polo are related. Many swimmers in high school and college play both where it is offered and their coaches feel they are a well-rounded athlete because of it. But the two sports can also be done independent of each other. Water polo players are not always swimmers, just as swimmers are not always water polo players.
Recently, there has been an attempt to bring water polo to Schuylkill Valley, and that attempt has unfortunately stalled out because of what is assumed to be a lack of interest. This was assumed without asking the student body. There was also an attempt to form a co-op with other schools, but those relationships have soured. Any attempt to start a fall 2023 season is now dead in the water - but we will keep trying! On a related note, with construction under way to improve our natatorium, why not take the time to make our pool water polo ready? We need to go down several inches in the shallow end, which they are already doing in the deep end. None of this was ever even considered, but when will they ever drain the pool and redo it again? Now is the time think about future programs, water polo may be a future program, invest in a future program while improving a current program.
Please consider supporting our efforts to rounding out our aquatics program by adding water polo. Every name helps to show that there is interest that Schuylkill Valley wants, and needs, this to happen!
The Issue
Out of all of the high schools in the state of Pennsylvania, only 23 offer water polo for men and 22 offer it for women. Of those 23/22 schools, 8 are in District III, the district Schuylkill Valley competes. Of those 8 schools, 5 are in Berks county and all 5 of those offer the sport to both men and women. To show you the imbalance between schools with swim teams versus schools with water polo, there are 320 mens and 327 womens high school swim teams in PA. Not every swim team has a pool on their campus, but Schuylkill Valley does.
Schuylkill Valley has a long and respected history of high school swimming. We produce district and state championship individuals and teams. Just like cross country and track are cousin sports, swimming and water polo are related. Many swimmers in high school and college play both where it is offered and their coaches feel they are a well-rounded athlete because of it. But the two sports can also be done independent of each other. Water polo players are not always swimmers, just as swimmers are not always water polo players.
Recently, there has been an attempt to bring water polo to Schuylkill Valley, and that attempt has unfortunately stalled out because of what is assumed to be a lack of interest. This was assumed without asking the student body. There was also an attempt to form a co-op with other schools, but those relationships have soured. Any attempt to start a fall 2023 season is now dead in the water - but we will keep trying! On a related note, with construction under way to improve our natatorium, why not take the time to make our pool water polo ready? We need to go down several inches in the shallow end, which they are already doing in the deep end. None of this was ever even considered, but when will they ever drain the pool and redo it again? Now is the time think about future programs, water polo may be a future program, invest in a future program while improving a current program.
Please consider supporting our efforts to rounding out our aquatics program by adding water polo. Every name helps to show that there is interest that Schuylkill Valley wants, and needs, this to happen!
Petition Closed
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Petition created on May 8, 2023