COLUMBUS, Ohio -- During the weekends of September 11 & 12 and September 18 & 19, the Worthington High Schools of Columbus (Thomas Worthington and Worthington Kilbourne) will host two action packed weekends of high school, collegiate club and masters water polo. Known as "The Ohio Cup," this event will showcase three water polo tournaments throughout both weekends. The high school women's and collegiate club/masters tournaments will be held on September 11 & 12 and the high school men's tournament will be held on September 18 & 19. Over 30 water polo programs will be participating among these three water polo tournaments throughout these weekends and stage over 100 competitive water polo games.

 

This tournament has been taken place for over 18 years now and this will be the first time that there will be a collegiate/masters tournament taking place. The reason for this new addition is to promote the collegiate club and masters programs in Ohio for those high school players that are thinking about playing in college.This will give the opportunity for younger players to see how club and masters teams operate and also give the club and masters teams a chance to recruit and showcase themselves through flyers and information sessions. In addition, there will be an NCAA Division II Collegiate Program, Notre Dame College (Euclid, Ohio), also will be participating in the collegiate club and masters tournament. This ia newly added Division II program that is hoping to gain a lot of recruiting attraction by participating in these tournaments around Ohio.

 

The pool set-up held at the Worthington Pool Complex will allow both an indoor and an outdoor game going on at the same time. In addition, there will be a separate warm-up pool for players to prepare for the matches. Officials are being brought in by the Ohio Water Polo Referee Association (OWPRA) which will be in its 3rd year running. This officials program allows new and experienced water polo officials to be trained and contracted to games as a group making it easier on the coaches across the state. Assignments are made by a head supervisor for all dual matches, invitational, regional and state tournaments. 

 

On the philanthropy side, these tournaments will help raise money to go towards a Special Olympics charity. Both host teams have been a major contributor to this since the inception of this tournament. There will be raffle tickets, t-shirt sales, food concession stands and other items to purchase that contribute to this cause. 

 

For more information, please visit www.twwaterpolo.com