UIL Removes Pilot Status on Water Polo in Texas High Schools<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Texas\u2019s high school governing body, the University Interscholastic League (UIL), this week made water polo a full varsity sport in the state.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UIL Removes Pilot Status on Water Polo to Become Full Sport in Texas\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Texas\u2019s high school governing body, the University Interscholastic League (UIL), this week made water polo a full varsity sport in the state.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-17T18:31:29+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/venue-2025-NCAA-Womens-Water-Polo-1384-Edit.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"750\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matthew De George - Senior Writer\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sportsdoctormd\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matthew De George - Senior Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Matthew De George - Senior Writer\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/aff20a2913cc03a514d0343a4c8788f3\"},\"headline\":\"UIL Removes Pilot Status on Water Polo to Become Full Sport in Texas\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-17T18:31:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-17T18:31:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/\"},\"wordCount\":351,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/venue-2025-NCAA-Womens-Water-Polo-1384-Edit.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"high school water polo\",\"texas water polo\",\"UIL\",\"University Interscholastic League\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Water Polo\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/\",\"name\":\"UIL Removes Pilot Status on Water Polo in Texas High Schools\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/venue-2025-NCAA-Womens-Water-Polo-1384-Edit.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-17T18:31:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-17T18:31:29+00:00\",\"description\":\"Texas\u2019s high school governing body, the University Interscholastic League (UIL), this week made water polo a full varsity sport in the state.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/venue-2025-NCAA-Womens-Water-Polo-1384-Edit.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/venue-2025-NCAA-Womens-Water-Polo-1384-Edit.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":750,\"caption\":\"Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UIL Removes Pilot Status on Water Polo to Become Full Sport in Texas\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"description\":\"The Global Leader in Aquatic News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"width\":1799,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Swimming World\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/aff20a2913cc03a514d0343a4c8788f3\",\"name\":\"Matthew De George - Senior Writer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cfca9cef277cfa1a9f4150330ba69a2?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cfca9cef277cfa1a9f4150330ba69a2?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Matthew De George - Senior Writer\"},\"description\":\"Matthew De George is the Americas Correspondent for Swimming World Magazine. He's the author of two books on swimming, Duels in the Pool and Pooling Talent. He's also the assistant sports editor for the Delaware County Daily Times in Pennsylvania, where he covers high school and college sports as well as the Philadelphia Union. His work has also appeared in The Guardian and The Athletic.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.swimmingworld.com\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/sportsdoctormd\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/mattdg\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UIL Removes Pilot Status on Water Polo in Texas High Schools","description":"Texas\u2019s high school governing body, the University Interscholastic League (UIL), this week made water polo a full varsity sport in the state.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UIL Removes Pilot Status on Water Polo to Become Full Sport in Texas","og_description":"Texas\u2019s high school governing body, the University Interscholastic League (UIL), this week made water polo a full varsity sport in the state.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/","og_site_name":"Swimming World","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","article_published_time":"2025-06-17T18:31:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":750,"url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/venue-2025-NCAA-Womens-Water-Polo-1384-Edit.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Matthew De George - Senior Writer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@sportsdoctormd","twitter_site":"@swimmingworld","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Matthew De George - Senior Writer","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/"},"author":{"name":"Matthew De George - Senior Writer","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/aff20a2913cc03a514d0343a4c8788f3"},"headline":"UIL Removes Pilot Status on Water Polo to Become Full Sport in Texas","datePublished":"2025-06-17T18:31:29+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-17T18:31:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/"},"wordCount":351,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/venue-2025-NCAA-Womens-Water-Polo-1384-Edit.jpg","keywords":["high school water polo","texas water polo","UIL","University Interscholastic League"],"articleSection":["Water Polo"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/","name":"UIL Removes Pilot Status on Water Polo in Texas High Schools","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/venue-2025-NCAA-Womens-Water-Polo-1384-Edit.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-17T18:31:29+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-17T18:31:29+00:00","description":"Texas\u2019s high school governing body, the University Interscholastic League (UIL), this week made water polo a full varsity sport in the state.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/venue-2025-NCAA-Womens-Water-Polo-1384-Edit.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/venue-2025-NCAA-Womens-Water-Polo-1384-Edit.jpg","width":1000,"height":750,"caption":"Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UIL Removes Pilot Status on Water Polo to Become Full Sport in Texas"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","name":"Swimming World","description":"The Global Leader in Aquatic News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Swimming World","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","width":1799,"height":900,"caption":"Swimming World"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld","https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/aff20a2913cc03a514d0343a4c8788f3","name":"Matthew De George - Senior Writer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cfca9cef277cfa1a9f4150330ba69a2?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cfca9cef277cfa1a9f4150330ba69a2?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"Matthew De George - Senior Writer"},"description":"Matthew De George is the Americas Correspondent for Swimming World Magazine. He's the author of two books on swimming, Duels in the Pool and Pooling Talent. He's also the assistant sports editor for the Delaware County Daily Times in Pennsylvania, where he covers high school and college sports as well as the Philadelphia Union. His work has also appeared in The Guardian and The Athletic.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.swimmingworld.com","https:\/\/x.com\/sportsdoctormd"],"url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/mattdg\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick","source_text":"","source_url":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/venue-2025-NCAA-Womens-Water-Polo-1384-Edit.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p56Jja-2A1O","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8367"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":615153,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615152\/revisions\/615153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":615152,"date":"2025-06-17T11:31:29","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T18:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=615152"},"modified":"2025-06-17T11:31:29","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T18:31:29","slug":"uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/uil-removes-pilot-status-on-water-polo-to-become-full-sport-in-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"UIL Removes Pilot Status on Water Polo to Become Full Sport in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

UIL Removes Pilot Status on Water Polo to Become Full Sport in Texas<\/strong><\/p>\n

Texas\u2019s high school governing body, the University Interscholastic League, this week made water polo a full varsity sport in the state.<\/p>\n

The UIL\u2019s Legislative Council met last Wednesday<\/a>. Among its decisions was to remove the pilot status on boys and girls water polo, officially sanctioning it as a sport. The decision is effective immediately.<\/p>\n

Boys and girls water polo began in high schools in Texas as a pilot program in the fall of 2022. (It had been approved in 2019<\/a> but was delayed due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.) The UIL has completed three seasons of championships.<\/p>\n

The UIL council\u2019s meeting minutes decreed that the sport \u201chas been successful with increasing number of participating schools each year.\u201d The recommendation to elevate to full status was based on \u201cdemonstrated student interest, successful implementation and sustained participation and growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Water polo is a fall sport in Texas. The season starts on or around Aug. 1 and ends with championships in late October<\/a>. Four boys and four girls teams advanced to championship weekend this year at the Josh Davis Natatorium in San Antonio. UIL championships are awarded in only one class (6A) for boys and girls.<\/p>\n

While the pool of finalists remains small, the boys competition has had three different champions in three years. Clute Brazoswood, which won the first boys title in 2022, claimed its first girls crown at the 2024 championships<\/a> to end Richmond Foster\u2019s two-year reign. Of the eight teams in the semifinals this year, two were first-timers.<\/p>\n

The UIL is also studying in its standing committee on athletics a proposal for \u201can optional spring training period for water polo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Texas is viewed as a large growth area for American water polo, which still remains overwhelmingly centered in California, with small pockets in the Northeast and Florida. Upon his retirement as CEO of USA Water Polo, Chris Ramsey<\/strong> said he viewed the expansion of the game<\/a> into Texas as one of signature legacy achievements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"