There are many countries who have trouble finding the funds to develop their aquatic disciplines. Mexico is one such country that is fighting hard to develop water polo in its 32 states. The past year was probably a watershed year with teams touring and competing on a larger stage than available at home.
Mexico is far from a water polo force, even in America, but dedicated officials are working hard to spread the word.
There are 32 states in Mexico, but only seven of those — Mexico City, Aguascalientes, Nuevo León, Jalisco, Guanajuato, Baja California Sur and Michoacán — have some water polo involvement.
Within those states there are probably about 300 active water polo players, 100 of whom are women. Not much of a pool in which to draw from for international events. However, Mexico has managed to make a huge leap forward in 2024 with four teams making international visits and two of those competing on the world stage for the first time.
Mexico took its U19 men’s and women’s teams to El Salvador while the U16 men attended the World Aquatics U16 championships in Gzira, Malta and the U18 women recently attended the world championship in Chengdu, China. This was a massive leap forward for the Mexican federation.
The men’s team in Gzira, Malta, came up against Italy (5-25), Georgia (4-14), Ukraine 7-14), Malta (8-22), Canada (9-25) Slovenia (12-14) and finished with victory over Zimbabwe (11-7).
The women’s team in Chengdu, China had the following results — China (4-22), Israel (7-16), Turkyie (9-16), Thailand (15-20), South Africa (13-14), Turkiye (4-10).
With the men there was a victory and the women pursued success with relish, coming close to South Africa on day six.
Gerardo Arellano, the Mexican referee with the women’s team in China, said the experience in Chengdu was “amazing”.
“Just to have the opportunity to participate in a water polo event in the other side of the world makes my heart beat faster; my brain becomes a sponge and keeps my eyes wide open the entire time.
“I personally had the opportunity to officiate the bronze-medal match, so that makes me feel blessed and keeps me motivated to keep promoting and helping with the development of water polo in Mexico.
“The athletes had the best attitude towards the world championship; to be part of the event was already a win. I believe coaches have a better understanding of the need to develop more high-level athletes and the competition should help to find the hows and the why,” Arellano said.
By attending these championships, Arellano said: “I’m hoping this can grow just with the fact that we are travelling to international events; this could motivate other boys and girls to want to become part of our amazing sport and have the dream to represent their country.”
He said that the aspiration for the Mexican delegation was to keep growing and to develop water polo. “Travelling as much as possible with kids to keep them engaged and motivated; it’s also a big part of the plan.”
When asked whether many Mexican kids took advantage of the water polo world north of the border, he said: “Some Mexican players look to play in the United States but, this is not as easy as it sounds. Money sometimes is an issue due to the currency conversion rate.
“There are some who have played and are playing in the United States, but we’ve never had even five athletes playing at the same time between men and women combined.
“Some go for a year and don’t have the money to continue. I hope that the number of athletes rises because if they can go to a college institution, this not only changes their water polo careers, but changes their entire lives and gives them a better future.”
So, the future looks brighter for the Mexican development of the sport.
“Our hope is to continue to grow and develop our sport, to develop great athletes and human beings. To keep improving one step at a time and to show the path of discipline, hard work and success to as many Mexican boys and girls as possible and hopefully this will not only make our sport better but our country a better place,” Arellano said.