Teaching a healthy lifestyle

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The Strathmore Water Polo Club is gaining popularity among Strathmore’s youth a short time after launching in the community.
The sport is well known in big events such as the Summer Olympic Games and the International University Sports Federation.
The club, which started in May, has noticed an increase of youth trying out the sport.
“Water polo teaches teamwork, fundamental movement and sport skills, as well it improves agility, balance and coordination,” said founder Krista Hill. “Most importantly (it) offers our Strathmore children and youth the opportunity to stay active and healthy.”
Hill and her husband Kevin started the club after their 13-year-old daughter Julianna took a keen interest in the sport, knowing the benefits it would provide to the youth in town.
The club decided to introduce water polo with an eight-week introductory program: Water Polo 101. The program is for boys and girls, ages 10-14.
For the month of May and June, Hill has been fortunate enough to round up some players that made a career out of water polo and moved on to the NCAA ranks.
She is hoping that the players will enhance the younger players skills with their knowledge of the game.
Having NCAA players come out and teach the kids has been instrumental in their development. The interaction is also promoting female sports.
“We’ve had some other NCAA girls come out, they’re happy to do that because they want to give back to the sport because it’s made them so happy,” said Dayna Christmas, executive director for the Alberta Water Polo Association.
The coaches for the month of May were Courtenay and Ashley Menard, twin sisters who are three-time national gold medalists.
The month of June has Calgary natives and San Jose State Spartans players Cara Robinson and Rae Lekness coming and practicing the game with the Strathmore players.
Hill said having these types of players come to teach kids is not only beneficial for the players, but also for the Alberta Water Polo Association.
“For small town Strathmore, we are bringing in some impressive talent with the help of Dayna and the AWPA,” said Hill.
She encourages the kids because the opportunities to compete nationally or internationally are not out of reach.
“Some parents expressed interest in starting a club,” said Christmas. “We’ve come out a few times to do free clinics every summer and what we thought would be fun is to see if we could drum up enough interest to come on Tuesday nights for a couple of months to get ready for the fall season.”
On June 2, Kyra Christmas and Cara Robinson practiced with the young players at the Strathmore Aquatic Centre and were hoping to develop the players knowledge even further to succeed in the sport.
“Just coming out to small towns around Calgary is special because it teaches them that they can go far if they just keep going and keep pushing for what they want,” said Kyra.
Calgary’s Cara Robinson, who just completed her first season with the San Jose Spartans, is really taking what she has learned in her child and adolescent major and transferring it into what she teaches the players.
“It’s really awesome that I can play water polo after the club level, and I’m a child development major at school, so it’s really great that I can combine what I’m learning in school and the pool and bring it to practices like this to combine my two passions,” said Robinson.
The club will hold summer sessions in hopes of attracting more interest before the fall season comes to see if kids want to eventually form a team and play in a city league in Calgary.
If you are interested in the Strathmore Water Polo Club, you can go to their Facebook page or e-mail them at kristadpb@gmail.com.