Wright State University

Adventure Summit

Kayak Water Polo Rules:

1. You cannot paddle with the ball. You must dribble (explained below), pass or shoot.

2. You may not swing your paddle in the air. You may hold it in the air to stop a shot, but you are not allowed to use it like a bat to hit the ball forward.

3. NO holding or pushing other boats with your hands or paddle.

4. NO interfering with the Goaltender (no pushing, pulling or moving boats)

5. If hands are in the water going after the ball, no paddles may be in the water going after the ball.

6. You may not grab someone else’s paddle (AKA, moving their paddle to shoot)

7. You must keep your paddle at least one foot away from opponent.

8. AT NO TIME MAY A PADDLE BLADE MAKE CONTACT WITH ANOTHER PERSON!

9. HAVE FUN!

Game play:

Kayak polo is a team sport (5-on-5) where players paddle high-performance kayaks, pass a ball to each other and try to score in their opponent’s goal.

Before You Play:

You must read the rules and sign a liability waiver.

All Players Must:

Be able to perform a wet exit.

Wear a helmet.

Possession:

You can only keep possession of the ball for 5 seconds.

You have possession if you’re holding the ball or if it’s on the water within your arm’s reach.

Within the 5 seconds you must dispose of the ball by passing it, dribbling it, or moving it out of arms’ reach. Advancing the Ball:

To dribble, throw the ball just in front of your boat, paddle 2-3 strokes up to it, pick it up, and throw it again.

To move the ball around the pool, you may pass the ball to another player on your team or dribble.

You cannot paddle with the ball resting on your spray skirt or carry the ball in your lap.

Paddle Use:

You can use your paddle to block a pass or shot, or retrieve a ball floating on the water.

It is an illegal “paddle foul” to:

Strike any part of an opponent’s body with your paddle. Throw the paddle. “Wind up” and swing at the ball with the paddle. Retrieve a floating ball with your paddle if someone is also reaching for it with their hands. Block within arm’s reach of a player who has the ball (so that their hand could strike your paddle when throwing). Push or brace off of another player’s boat with your paddle or hands. In general use the paddle in such a way that you might hit someone with it, so when in doubt play the ball with your hands.

Goalies:

The goalie sits in the front of the goal and blocks shots with his or her paddle.

It is an illegal “goalie foul” to:

Push or touch the opposing goalie. Push another player (of either team) into the opposing goalie.

Try to avoid touching your own goalie too, since it will knock them out of position.

Referee:

When a whistle blows, look at the referee to see what the call is. Stop playing.

In the event of a capsize, the referee will blow the whistle and game play will be suspended. The game will resume once the player has either rolled up or been rescued.

Sprints:

At the start of each game a referee throws the ball into the center of the pool, and one player from each team sprints for it.

Fouls:

When a player commits a foul, the opposing team generally gets the ball.

The player who was fouled takes the ball from where the foul occurred.

Goal Restarts:

After a goal is scored, the team that did not score brings the ball to the center line of the pool and the play restarts from there

Every player must be on his or her own side of the pool when the play restarts.

Out of Bounds:

If you are the last person to touch the ball (with your hand, paddle, or boat) before it goes out of bounds, the other team gets the ball.

The other team takes the ball from the boundary line nearest where it went out.