water polo briefs

[Torchwatch]

The debate is going on in the UK of Govt. sponsorship of national sports squads, those that are unlikely to achieve Olympic medals get nothing, while those with medal promise have money thrown at them. Since individual events score more medals per buck than team events the team events are feeling the pinch, fail to perform and lose even more support.
There is a claim that grass roots support for sport is continuing as usual, but if you have ever coached young people you discover that the amateur clubs are funded by the athletes and their parents. Facilities are built by local authorities, run by private service providers and paid for by the athletes on a weekly basis. You even need to pay the council to organise a run in the park for a few friends.

In my part of Kent we actually got a new running track and had our pool improved, but our sports centre was a training camp for London 2012.

College water polo players not having uniform speedos is no big deal so long as everyone has the same basic colour and the swimmers have access to the pool for training and competition.