High School water polo thriving in Shoreline

Shorewood and Shorecrest girls water polo teams

Water polo is not yet a sport sanctioned by the Washington State Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), the governing body for high school sports, but that is not stopping the sport from thriving at Shorewood and Shorecrest.

The popularity of water polo has grown enough that the two Shoreline high schools were each able to field teams this year for the Spring season. In previous years, it had been necessary for the two schools to have a combined team.

The teams compete in a league of approximately 25 high schools around the greater Puget Sound region. As a club sport, the teams are responsible for most of their expenses including: pool rentals, equipment, paying referees, tournament costs, etc. As a result, the players have fundraising responsibilities in addition to practices and games.

The success of these programs is due largely to the work and dedication of Coach Mira Ho of Shorewood and Coach Nick Maxwell of Shorecrest. Nick and Mira have been involved in the water polo community for years. They dedicate countless hours of coaching and teaching. They are active not only at the high school level, but they are also heavily involved with youth polo programs.

The high school regular season wraps up this week. Shorewood will be advancing to the post season that begins with a tournament on May 21-22, 2022 and Shorecrest will fall just short of qualifying.

Regardless of the standings, the season has been a huge success for high school water polo in Shoreline, and the future of the sport is bright.