Sport in Scotland - Water Polo

Water Polo

Water polo is considered to be invented in Scotland with the original rules being written by William Wilson for the Bon Accord Club in Aberdeen in 1877. It was based on a game played in the rivers Dee and Don in Aberdeen. The first game in a pool took place in Glasgow and the Scottish rules were those most adopted during the early years of the sport. Additionally, Scotland provided a number of Olympians to the GB squads that were successful in the early Olympics.

Scotland had a proud tradition of amateur water polo with many strong clubs across the country. However, it took a downturn after the early 1990s at which point it was successfully competing in home countries and 8 nations tournaments. As the rest of the world moved to deep water facilities, increased their training regime and professionalized their coaching structures, Scotland's water polo remained static and fell far behind. The national squad stopped competing in internationals in 2003 with the exception of the women's squad competing at the Commonwealth tournament in Perth in 2006. However, the sport has turned around since 2008 with fast growth of members, clubs and competitions. The national squads are once again competing internationally in the annual Celtic Nations tournament with recent wins in Women's 2010 & 2012 and Men's 2011. Scotland is expected to host the Commonwealth tournament in Aberdeen in April 2014.