Canoe Polo, a spectacular and fast paced team discipline of the International Canoe Federation, is unlike other Canoe sports. Canoe Polo is a game of two halves of 10 minutes where two teams of 5 players battle it out with a water polo ball. The aim is to score into a goal, which is suspended above the water at each end of a rectangular ‘playing pitch’. These pitches can be on open water or they can even be on a swimming pool.
The game requires excellent teamwork and promotes both general canoeing skills and a range of other techniques unique to the sport. The ball can be thrown by hand, or flicked with the paddle to pass between players and shoot at the goal.
Matches are controlled by referees and the fast, explosive action from players encompasses a wide range of canoeing skills including the Eskimo roll. This is incredibly useful when a player is in possession of the ball and their opponent pushes them over. Overtime (golden goal) is used to decide tied games that require a result.
The canoes are specifically designed for Canoe Polo and are faster and lighter than typical kayaks which give them fantastic manoeuvrability. Paddles are very lightweight and designed with both pulling power and ball control in mind. Nose and tail boat bumpers, body protection, helmets and face-guards are all compulsory.
Canoe Polo is now played by 50 countries in all continents of the world. The New Zealand Paddle Ferns are entering this years World Champs ranked 4th.
Check out the video below which explains about Canoe Polo and highlights some of the games from the 2012 Canoe Polo World Championships which were held in Poznan, Poland.
