The sport of water polo is physically taxing and requires athletes to be able to tread water, swim quickly, throw, and catch and shoot with accuracy. Joel Carpmail (10), a current sophomore, tried out water polo for the first time three years ago while swimming for the Canterwood Swim Team. Currently, Carpmail plays for Gig Harbor High School’s school team as well as swimming for Gig Harbor High School’s swim team in the winter. He plays set and set defense in polo, which includes both offensive and defensive plays, scoring goals and preventing the other team from scoring. During the off season, Carpmail plays club water polo for Puget Sound Polo. He loves playing and the opportunities that being on the team provides. “Club Water Polo allows for lots of travel; during the season my team traveled to Croatia,” he explained. His favorite part of playing polo, however, is the people he plays with.
During the summer, Carpmail competed with Puget Sound Polo in the Junior Olympics tournament held in Palo Alto, California. The Junior Olympics was a great experience for Carpmail as he was able to compete against teams from all over the country with his club team, which included another Gig Harbor High School student, Charlie Davis (10). He had an amazing time, and they set a team record of 2 wins and 3 losses. Within the 24 teams aged 16 years and younger, they placed 14th.
Carpmail has also been able to participate in the Olympic Development Program. ODP is a series of clinics where professional coaches drill the teams and scrimmage. It provides an opportunity for advancement in the world of polo, where the best teams advance as far as nationals. “The Olympic Development Program was fun, but also difficult and a challenge,” he stated. The ODP serves as a primary feeder system for the USA water polo youth cadet and development national teams. Carpmail made the PNW Regionals team. Teams that qualified traveled to Dallas, Texas, to play other state regional teams. He said, “The best part of playing on the PNW Regionals team down in Texas was getting to play against different players we don’t usually get to play in Washington, and it’s a higher level of competition.”
Carpmail will continue to play polo in the future and has set high standards for his performance. He explained that his short-term goals include moving from division two to division one in high school and qualifying for regional ODP, and his long-term goal is playing water polo at a collegiate level. “I would like to play water polo in college, preferably at a division one California school because that is where the highest level of competition is and only division one and two schools can give scholarships.” As Carpmail continues to play for the high school team, the season is almost over with the most exciting games yet to come. “As a team goal, it would be really cool if we could work back up to Division One, where the competition is elevated. My individual goal for the postseason is to average 3 goals every game,” he said. Heading into the postseason, the Tides start Division Two playoffs at 7:00 at Rogers High School on November 8th for a chance at making it to the Division One championships.