Hundreds converge on Jefferson County Lake for annual water polo tourney
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RIGBY — Water polo is growing in popularity in eastern Idaho, according to those involved in the sport in this area. But there are certain limitations currently stunting that growth — most notably, a lack of access to pool time.
With the Rigby Water Polo Club looking for ways to bring money and visibility to the area, Brett Maxfield recommended hosting an annual open water invitational at Rigby Lake. This year, the fourth annual Rigby Lake Water Polo Invitational hosted 12 teams — up from “a few” in its inception.
One of the teams came all the way from Treasure Valley to camp in Rigby last weekend and compete. Shane Anderson, a member of that team, told one of the event coordinators, Jenna Hancock, what the event means to him.
“I’ve been in water polo for a long time, and this is the coolest thing I’ve ever done,” Anderson told Hancock.
Maxfield is the East Idaho Water Polo Club president and chairman. Along with his founding the first event, his company, Maxfield Healthcare Solutions, has sponsored the tournament each of the past four years.
“Being that it’s a new sport here, it’s been a great way to expose (the players) to people that have a lot of experience,” Maxfield told EastIdahoNews.com.
While the Rigby team is made up of students from Rigby High School and nearby junior high schools, some of the other teams who attend bring players who have completed at the highest level.
“As these other teams have come from other areas and seen that our program is young and in its infancy, and growing, they’ve been really great to take our kids under their wing,” Maxfield added.
The visibility at that level has helped improve the players involved. But the goal for the club is to continue the growth of the sport across the area.
Hancock said she would like water polo to see growth similar to what’s happened over the past decade.
“We really do want it to be a bigger sport,” she said. “The difficult part is pool time. There are no pools that will accommodate at this point.”
Maxfield agreed.
“One of the biggest impediments in southeast Idaho is we just don’t have the pool time available,” he said.
Seeing more sports grow in eastern Idaho, Hancock explained, will give local youths more options for productive outlets and increase the likelihood of them finding “their thing.”
When kids find “their thing,” she said, “they really start to blossom, and come out of their shell.”
Learn more about the Rigby Water Polo Club and Rigby Lake Water Polo Invitational by visiting the Facebook page.