Victorian Youth Polo Academy (VYPA)

Canoe Polo - it's a very interesting sport. Think basketball in kayaks as a full contact sport, like bumper cars.

Today we've got our competition day at the end of the season and everyone is just jumping in. We've got some teams going, everyone's kind of mixing and matching. We've got kids that have been playing six weeks and they're jumping in a boat to play with everyone. And we've got players that have represented Australia or other countries at World Championship events in the past. I think it's a very fun sport. It doesn't get the coverage or the participation that you do from your mainstream sports, but as a result it attracts a very quirky demographic into the sport. 

I'm 16 at the moment and I originally started Polo because my mum played it way back and I wanted to try something new. It's a really great sport, it's just really like full-on and like physical, but also it's kind of the people you're playing with. Everyone's really supportive and I just feel open  to try different things and like it's okay if I mess it up and it's just like a really supportive thing. It's inclusive, it allows anyone to kind of come and play, and I love seeing new people taking it on and getting excited about a different sport and being able to jump in and everyone around them just picks them up and takes them with them. 

Our regular location's out of action at the moment because of the October floods on the Maribyrnong River. The funding has allowed us to pivot and have our program in the swimming pool here, and the support that we've been able to receive through grants such as Greater Western Water's has really helped being able to keep the club afloat.