Only Ocean Kayaking - WaveLength Paddling Magazine

BC’s men’s team BC’s women’s team
dles. By the 1930s Germans were playing in
boats the length of sea kayaks and shooting
on soccer-sized nets. Well into the seventies
the Australian game was played in open, twoperson
canoes: the stern paddler steered
while ball-handling came from the bow. It’s
an image still conjured when Canadians first
hear of a sport called ‘Canoe’ Polo (a name
that stems from the British notion that kayaks
are a sub-class of canoes).
In the late eighties, polo gear was standardized.
Regulation kayaks are fast, quick
to turn, and easy to roll, echoing the design
of a diamond-shaped slalom boat. Polo
kayaks can’t exceed three metres and have
blunt, padded ends (a safety feature appreciated
by anyone who’s been speared by a
sharp-nosed river kayak). Paddles must be
of an adequate thickness (again, sharp paddles
can be taped for safety). PFDs and helmets
with face protection are essential.
Though Albertan clubs maintain a large
fleet, real polo boats have always been
scarce in BC. Vancouver’s club, the Dragons,
recently purchased six new polo kayaks,
“so we’ll have boats for anyone who
wants to play,” says Sam Mottram, a former
Team South Africa captain, now Canada’s
most formidable player. With coaching from
Mottram and expert players with Irish and
Australian origins, the Dragons have developed
an impressive pool of players. The
impact of weekly practices at Simon Fraser
University is “unbelievable,” says Mottram.
“In the last year things have picked up by
three hundred percent.” Several Dragons
brought home hardware from the 2001
Canadian Nationals.
October/November 2001 WaveLength
The Victoria Devils Canoe Polo Club
practices with the University of Victoria’s
whitewater kayak club on Friday nights in
the MacKinnon Pool. Practicing in
whitewater boats with nets made of plastic
piping, the Devils also produced medalwinners
from novice players, and welcome
newcomers.
This summer in Sooke, Scott Taylor of
Rush Adventures proved that “if you build
it, they will come.” In May he built two
floating goals, then advertised Friday-night
scrimmages. Upwards of fifteen players
were turning out by August. Sooke’s polo
players are a hardy, ocean-paddling variety,
who say they’ll wear drytops and play
outdoors all winter. “We’ll set up floodlights
and keep playing after dark,” said Taylor.
Another club comprised largely of junior
players practices in Chilliwack.
Whether playing in warm pools or the cold
ocean, in polo boats or plastic river runners,
west coast paddlers are gravitating to
kayaking’s latest incarnation. Total newcomers
are attending tournaments and forming
teams. Canoe Polo’s rising wave holds a future
of steady growth: league tounaments,
youth development teams, and a stronger
national squad can be expected. Few
paddlers can resist the appeal of a team sport
that fosters an arsenal of skills, from throwing
to stern-squirt turns and hand rolls. All
you need to start are two nets and a ball. ❏
© Tim Harvey—a native west coaster—is an
avid kayaker, kayak guide, polo player and
writing student at the University of Victoria.
North Island Kayak Rentals & Tours
Serving British Columbia’s
Northern Vancouver Island
and the Central Coast
For Information or Brochure:
Toll Free 877-949-7707
nikayak@island.net
www.island.net/~nikayak/
17