Courtesy: Elizabeth Spencer Rosenthal
It came down to the buzzer, but the future of high school water polo in Florida has been saved.
The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) was set to kick off its first meeting of the 2025-26 school year with an agenda item that would discuss de-sanctioning high school water polo in the state.
That’s when parents, coaches, student athletes and local government leaders turned their passion into action and teamed up to score a win for the sport they love. After an organized effort directed at FHSAA’s board of directors, the controversial item has been removed from the meeting agenda.
A post on the FHSAA website said the item has been removed from the September Board meeting agenda:
The #FHSAA Board of Directors will meet this Sunday & Monday for their first scheduled meeting of the 2025-26 School Year.
Following feedback from member schools, the water polo community, and Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas, the agenda item slated for the September board…
— FHSAA (@FHSAA) September 20, 2025
A statement from USA Water Polo on social media said, “We’re looking forward to working with the Florida High School Athletic Association and the Florida water polo community to help grow high school water polo.”
The sport has a strong community of avid supporters. If it’s played in the water, Florida loves it! Here in the Sunshine State, swimming and water polo are intertwined, sharing so much more than just a pool. In high schools across the state, some of the fiercest water polo players also compete in swimming, and some of the fastest swimmers also suit up for water polo. Water polo athletes have proven to be some of the swiftest sprinters, fiery 500 freestylers, and reliable relay team members. They can be brutal on backstroke and butterfly, and among the best of the breaststrokers.
High School water polo is a pursuit worth saving, as it is the ultimate team sport for both boys and girls, where you win together and lose together; advance as a team and go home as a team. In fact, water polo was the first team sport to be included in the Olympics, making its debut at the Paris Games in 1900. It demands skill, strategy, strength and athleticism, and brings a culture of passion, gratitude, camaraderie and discipline to the pool deck.
The sport also promotes school spirit, academic excellence, and physical and mental health and wellness. It can provide student athletes with collegiate and scholarship opportunities, and chances to play nationally and internationally.
Coach Carroll Vaughan is a mainstay in the Florida water polo community, having coached highly successful high school and club teams for 28 years. She is both revered and feared for her smart and tenacious coaching style, which has led to state championship titles for her girls and boys teams from Miami’s Gulliver Prep, and multiple coach of the year honors.
Coach Vaughan commented, “The news that the FHSAA Board of Directors removed any discussions of eliminating water polo from the most recent Board Meeting agenda comes with a sigh of relief from coaches like myself, athletes, parents, and supporters of the sport. However, there is more work to be done. The FHSAA has committed to working with USA Water Polo to boost participation, but it’s my hope that collaboration is extended to Aquatics as a whole, including the swimming community. We share our athletes and work in tandem, each sport uniquely contributing to each individual’s athletic growth.”
High school water polo is a meaningful part of life for thousands of student-athletes and their families. And for now, in Florida, the game is not over.
ABOUT ELIZABETH SPENCER ROSENTHAL
Elizabeth Spencer Rosenthal is a wife and mother of 3 from Miami. She is a passionate swim mom, volunteer and meet official, with a professional background in marketing and public relations. She holds a degree in Public Communication from American University, and loves finding a story to tell.
More kids play water polo in Florida than other sports that don’t seem to be endangered. What’s the beef with water polo?
Until fairly recently, I didn’t even know about the sport of water polo. However, watching my grandchildren play, I found it very exciting and marvelous at the degree of control that these athletes have to be able to play basketball on the water is amazing! I it makes no sense to me to
remove the sport from athletics as it certainly is just as important as many of the other sports. So if it’s true, I congratulate Florida for its renewed support of water polo.
With the Nationwide growth of the college women’s water polo programs, there are so many opportunities post High School. These college programs include the best students. Also, the competitive programs for the men’s programs have popped up strong outside of California.
It is a smart decision to keep these programs especially with Universities looking to improve and expand their programs.
Very few water polo coaches promote swimming beyond early age group years (12-under). In fact there is a growing mindset in the water polo culture that competitive swimming isn’t necessary once athletes reach high school ages. It’s too bad that this cultural shift has happened over the last two decades. There used to be lots of dual sport (polo/swim) athletes in college, even at the D1 level. I can’t think of the last one…
I don’t think the sports are engaged in a collaborative relationship at this point, in fact they compete for the same athletes. Many swim coaches are guilty of discouraging participation in water polo, too. Each sport has aspects and elements that the other does not have… Read more »
Maybe not the most recent, but Matt Biondi in the mid-to-late 1980s. Won national championships in both sports while playing at Cal Berkeley. After winning 7 Olympic medals in 1988, he retired from swimming and played on the US National team for 1-2 years.
Matt actually played polo at Cal for three years (’83, ’84, ’85), skipped his fourth year (’86) to focus on swimming, then played again in his fifth year (’87) after his swimming eligibility expired. He swam through the 1992 Olympics, then he retired from swimming. I am not sure if he continued to play polo after his collegiate career, I thought he was just swimming at that point, but I don’t know for sure. He was one of many that played both sports back in those days! In the 80’s and into the 90’s, club polo was nowhere near as big as it is now. In the spring and summer in CA, EVERYONE that played high school polo participated in… Read more »
Tim Shaw (’76 Swimming/’84 Polo) and Brad Schumacher (’96 Swimming/’00 Polo) were Olympians in both sports. I am sure there were more.
Look at the growing and greatly improved programs in the universities in the East. There you will find many more dual program athletes.
I heard Matt Biondi teaches in Hawaii now. I’m curious if he coaches one or both programs at his school?
Great article! As the parent of 3 competitive swimmers, 2 of whom played water polo as well, I am relieved to hear that high school water polo has been saved, at least for the time being. Several kids from our high school water polo team were able to advance to a D1 college program, and one(a coach) to the US Olympic team. I have known families that relocated to Florida specifically to allow their children to play high school water polo. It would be a tragedy to take this opportunity away from the kids.