The club found success in the 2025 season, despite the loss of their usual practice spot
Image courtesy of Isabel Howie.
When UVic drained the McKinnon pool in September 2024, a number of different student clubs and groups were affected.
Isabel Howie, head coach and president of the UVic Water Polo Club, was directly impacted by the closure. She told the Martlet she believes “UVic could’ve handled the closure better,” and that there was room for fundraising or donations to either repair McKinnon or build a new pool, but didn’t hear this option discussed by university.
Howie said that multiple on-campus pools have closed across Canada recently.
“I don’t think that’s a good representation of the aquatic community, especially because the community is so large,” she said. “It’s not really fair to silence a whole community.”
Without McKinnon, the UVic Water Polo Club faced problems with finding pool space and recruiting new members. They received help from a local water polo club, Saanich Water Polo School, that helped the team coordinate funding for pool space. Without the school’s help, Howie said, “we would not have been able to afford pool space.”
Because of the assistance they received, the club was able to practice at Saanich Commonwealth Place (SCP), which is between a half-hour and hour-long bus ride from campus. Although lucky to have this pool space, the distance made it difficult for the team to keep members.
Not only was it hard finding members who could commit to such a distance, but also, Howie said that she “went into it blind” at the start of the season, because she was unsure about the team’s plans without McKinnon.
At Clubs & Course Union (CCU) Days in September 2024, Howie said she felt bad telling people to join the team when she couldn’t answer their questions regarding pool location and practice times. In previous years, she said, “It was a lot easier … to tell people we were at McKinnon, and to pop by if you want. People can’t just pop by when [the pool] is so far away.”
Despite the confusing start to the semester, Howie managed to quadruple the size of the water polo team. Last year, she said, the team had five members. This year, Howie recruited 15 new players, for a total of 20. Thanks to the higher number of players, and the team’s affiliation with Saanich Water Polo School, the team entered their first tournament in October.
Howie said that “[It] was a good opportunity for everyone to start playing and get a hang of the game. We played against some younger teams and some international teams.”
There was room for the team to play in tournaments with SFU and UBC, Howie said, but doing so “would’ve cost a lot more … considering we would have to pay for hotels and stuff.” Still, the team succeeded in their first tournament and placed third overall.
The biggest struggle for the team, said Howie, was ensuring that they had enough members to run practices and attend tournaments. But she still found the experience highly rewarding, despite the difficulties.
“I was really happy to see the progress that people had made in such a short amount of time and to see so many people trying a new sport,” she said.
Next year, Howie will resume her role as head coach and president of the team, and plans to train others to take her place for the following years.
The closure of the McKinnon Pool has had a significant impact on clubs like UVic Water Polo Club, as well the Vikes swimming team and the UVic Whitewater Club. Howie said hopes issues regarding McKinnon’s closure can be resolved soon, stating “it would be awesome to see UVic dedicate more effort and money into building a new pool.”
Until then, she has found two summer tournaments — one in July, and the other in August — for any interested players who want additional water polo experience. She told the Martlet she also aims to expand recruitment in the fall, and grow the team to include even more new players.
