The Estevan Sharks water polo club is trying to grow the sport in this area and they went a long way towards realizing that goal by announcing new savings on registration fees along with hosting a well-attended free trial clinic for kids last Wednesday at the Rural Municipality of Estevan Aquatic Centre.
David Dzeryk, coach of the Sharks atom team, said the club will offer less expensive 2015-16 registration fees compared to last season thanks to a number of fundraisers they held last year that will help them pay for their tournament entry fees. He said this year the cost to join the mini program (children aged six to eight) will be $270 compared to $390 in 2014-15 and the price for youngsters to participate in the atom (ages eight to 11), bantam (12-14) and cadet (15-17) leagues would be $425, which is $240 less than last year.
“Obviously, the amount that it costs to go into local sports is a lot,” said Dzeryk. “If we could lower the amount of the fee for enrolment, I think it would be more attractive on the parents' side.”
Dzeryk said they also worked to attract more kids to water polo through their annual free trial clinic held Aug. 26 at the Aquatic Centre. He said 28 kids ranging in age from six years old up to 14 attended the event, which is held to give kids and parents who are not experienced with the sport an opportunity to see how much fun it can be.
“Our free trial day is something we've recently started in the last couple years,” he said. “Every year there seems to be double the amount of kids every time we offer it.”
The youngsters this year were treated to an in-water practice focusing on swimming fundamentals along with the proper procedures in handling a water polo ball and the basics of playing the game. Dzeryk said the hope is that some of these kids will gain enough interest in the sport to sign up for regular season play later this month and reap the rewards of playing with a team.
“The mini program helps develop a child's confidence in water,” he said. “It's that way across the board for all leagues, but especially for minis. We start gently in the shallow end and before they know it they're swimming a full game in the deep end in a matter of months.”
