[Skip to content]

Home > School Life > Sport > Water Polo

Water Polo

Water polo was introduced at Dame Alice Harpur School in 1999 as an extra curricular activity for Years 7 to 13.  In this short period, we have produced four players who have been selected to represent the Midland District Squad and subsequently one of these girls represented the Junior Women's GB squad.

Unlike competitive swimming, water polo is purely a team game and this social element is an attractive feature of the sport. However to play at the highest level you must be a highly dedicated athlete as it demands high levels of fitness and skill which take years to acquire.

U19

In 2004 the U19 team became English Schools' Swimming Association (ESSA) national champions.  They successfully defended this title in 2005.

In 2006, the U19 water polo team had a tough yet high achieving year. The profile of girls' water polo is expanding throughout the country, especially in the south, making the standard of play higher throughout school competition. Having qualified for the ESSA National Girls' Water Polo final for the third year running, we were set to meet the team from the Grantham National Water Polo Academy, who were definitely the strongest team in the competition. This is due to the ethos of the Academy, where places are offered to the country's most promising water polo players, and water polo is on an equal pedestal to academic education.


The final was held at Walsall Gala Baths on Sunday 14th May and the scene was set for the defending champions, DAHS, to take the title for the third year running. Despite playing gallantly and to the best of our ability, we were overpowered in the last minutes of the game and finished as silver medalists. Hopefully, with hard work and determination we can regain the U19 ESSA National Girls' water polo title.


In 2006, we are saying goodbye to many of our U19 team as they leave to go to university. We hope they will continue to play water polo at university. You never know, they may go on to compete in the student games! Watch this space. For the rest of us, we look forward to welcoming the U14 team members joining the U19 training sessions in September 2006.