Fair Play and Safe Contact Talk
A short poolside discussion of the group's water polo safety rules – no holding, ducking, pulling or splashing faces – before and after games.
- Stages
- Water Polo – Stage 8, Water Polo – Stage 9, Water Polo – Stage 10
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Skills
- Water Safety, Game Awareness
- Equipment
- None
- Age
- 8–99 years
- Group size
- 2–20 swimmers
- Time
- About 3 minutes
- In a lesson
- Introduction / Warm-up, Recap / Safe Exit
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Keep swimmers at the wall or on poolside safely during the talk so they don't get cold; keep it short.
What it develops
- Play simple small-sided games safely
- Communicate and play fairly to the rules
How to run it
- Before the first game, gather swimmers at the wall and agree the rules: one hand on the ball, play the ball not the player, no holding, pulling, pushing under or splashing faces.
- Explain the stop signal (whistle) and what happens if a rule is broken.
- After the game, ask for examples of good sportsmanship.
- Revisit briefly at the start of every water polo lesson.
Teaching cues
- Play the ball, not the player.
- Stop on the whistle.
- Respect everyone.
Make it easier
- Use picture cards for the rules.
Make it harder
- Swimmers explain the rules to a new player.
Common faults
- Rules forgotten once the game gets exciting.
Corrections
- 'Freeze – what's the rule?'
Assistant / L1 role
- Hold up the rule picture cards while the teacher talks and then supervise swimmers holding the wall.