UIL Removes Pilot Status on Water Polo to Become Full Sport in Texas
Texas’s high school governing body, the University Interscholastic League, this week made water polo a full varsity sport in the state.
The UIL’s Legislative Council met last Wednesday. Among its decisions was to remove the pilot status on boys and girls water polo, officially sanctioning it as a sport. The decision is effective immediately.
Boys and girls water polo began in high schools in Texas as a pilot program in the fall of 2022. (It had been approved in 2019 but was delayed due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.) The UIL has completed three seasons of championships.
The UIL council’s meeting minutes decreed that the sport “has been successful with increasing number of participating schools each year.” The recommendation to elevate to full status was based on “demonstrated student interest, successful implementation and sustained participation and growth.”
Water polo is a fall sport in Texas. The season starts on or around Aug. 1 and ends with championships in late October. Four boys and four girls teams advanced to championship weekend this year at the Josh Davis Natatorium in San Antonio. UIL championships are awarded in only one class (6A) for boys and girls.
While the pool of finalists remains small, the boys competition has had three different champions in three years. Clute Brazoswood, which won the first boys title in 2022, claimed its first girls crown at the 2024 championships to end Richmond Foster’s two-year reign. Of the eight teams in the semifinals this year, two were first-timers.
The UIL is also studying in its standing committee on athletics a proposal for “an optional spring training period for water polo.”
Texas is viewed as a large growth area for American water polo, which still remains overwhelmingly centered in California, with small pockets in the Northeast and Florida. Upon his retirement as CEO of USA Water Polo, Chris Ramsey said he viewed the expansion of the game into Texas as one of signature legacy achievements.