Polo in the pool

Tessa Welch, a seventh grader at St. Mark’s Episcopal School, is passionate about water polo.

My name is Tessa Welch, and I play year-round water polo. When I was 8 years old, I swam for the West University Piranhas swim team. My coach, Coach Mac, was also the water polo coach at Lamar High School. When he asked me if I wanted to play water polo, I had never even heard of it before. Luckily, I decided to try it anyway. I am so glad I did!

Lots of people in Texas don’t even know what water polo is. When I explain it to my friends, I say it is kind of like soccer but played in a swimming pool with two teams of seven players. No one is allowed to touch the bottom of the pool so players must tread water constantly, and only the goalies can use both hands to throw the ball.

One of the coolest parts of water polo is the national tournaments. Each July, kids from all over the country meet in California for the Junior Olympics. I have been lucky enough to play in the Junior Olympics three times now. Another huge opportunity is the women’s Olympic Development Program for water polo. This year, I was very excited to be selected for ODP. Even though our team won only two games in the last ODP tournament, it was a great honor and learning experience.

Water polo is honestly such a hard sport, and there certainly were bumps in the road. In the beginning, it was hard to keep up with the older kids. They were just way too fast. Now, I have realized that I learned so much from these older girls and have become a much better and more confident water polo player. I love to play on a team for my water polo club, the Viper Pigeons.

My teammates and I have become very good friends, while my coaches always encourage me to play my hardest and to do my best. Now, I can’t imagine my life without water polo.

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