Watch A Water Polo Match

On a small island where a blindfolded staggering drunk would inevitably fall into the sea given a few hours, provided he didn’t pass out first, you’d be right to assume watersports are major part of everyday life. And the fairly niche activity of water polo is one of those practised regularly here and with serious and genuine passion.

For those who have never seen water polo it’s much like normal polo … only there are no horses … or mallets … or helmets …  or boots … and it’s played in a pool not on a field … and the goals are smaller.

So … in fact, it’s nothing like normal polo aside from the fact that a ball is involved in both sports and the object of the game is to get that ball into the other team’s goal. So that’s all sorted then and now we’re all experts!

But seriously, water polo is a very popular sport in Malta, second only to football. It is a sport with strong traditional roots, particularly in the popular bays of Sliema, Balluta and St Julians where time-honoured rivalries persist to this day. Malta's first-ever Olympic experience took place with a water polo team that competed in the Berlin Olympics of 1938.

Even if you've never been to a water polo match before, it’s simple to follow (especially now we’ve outlined the game in such detail above) - and it’s easy to get hooked. It is tough and elegant at the same time; the players need to be fast and strong, both to keep up with the surges from opponents eager to score and to hold off those trying to drown you as you try and score yourself.

But long before the Olympic excursion, aquatic clubs had sprouted up all over the Island, all of them training and producing swimmers for both the water polo teams and the swimming events. Each club had its own seawater pitch so that a home-and-away league schedule could be organised every summer season.

However, when competing against foreign teams, the Maltese clubs found it difficult to adapt themselves to the fresh-water pools in which European water polo is played. With the construction of a National Pool complex with all the modern facilities and an Olympic-size fresh-water pool, the problem was finally solved and results against foreign opposition improved almost overnight.

The national league fixtures are today played at the National Pool, where a good-sized crowd watches the games in comfort and with access to eating and drinking outlets within the same complex. The rivalry is still there and peak-season encounters often attract bumper crowds and bumper celebrations. It's fun to be there for all the revelry.


So, if you fancy having a look at another sport while in Malta, we can't think of a better one than water polo. Although many of the major teams have their own pools, which they use for reserve fixtures and training, all the big league matches are held at the National Pool in Tal-Qroqq – just opposite the university. For more information check out the website for the Aquatic Sports Association of Malta below.