The origins of competitive Canoe Polo in the UK.
Most sports are not fortunate enough to have an individual defining moment as is the case for Rugby Union with William Webb Ellis. The origins of most sports often take place organically and often in several different countries simultaneously.
Canoe Polo is no exception and an excellent history of Canoe/Kayak Polo is published by the ICF: ICF Canoe Polo History and by the UK Canoe Polo committee: UK Canoe Polo History
The purpose of this archive however is to collate the competitive Canoe Polo results from the United Kingdom, and we are fortunate to have first-hand accounts from some of those involved in the earliest formal competitions in the UK and we would therefore like to thank Rob Morgan and Gary Linton in particular for their support.
The British Canoe Union’s first National Coach – Oliver Cock MBE, was not only involved in the development of Canoe Polo in the informal sense (as a fun tool for coaching kayaking skills) but he also saw the potential for introducing a more formal competitive structure for the game.
To that end he proposed an event to be staged at the National Canoe Exhibition at Crystal Palace in February 1970 for which he provided a basic set of rules (Oliver also carried out the refereeing). Safety equipment was non-existent, and the rules allowed for a great deal of contact – which led to canoe polo’s reputation as a rough sport (the Canoe polo committee link above includes a wonderful piece of Pathe news film from this 1970 tournament).
Following this demonstration event the BCU agreed that a technical committee should be set up for Canoe Polo, and this led to improved rules, safety and profile. The Crystal Palace Canoe Exhibition provided the ideal venue and platform for the development of the sport, with up to two thousand spectators crammed into the pool area to watch the matches. This no doubt contributed to the sports’ rapid growth in popularity within the canoeing fraternity.
Whilst the 1970 event was won by Pangbourne Youth Club (beating Denstone College in the final), the first official national championship at Crystal Palace in 1971 was won by Birmingham Canoe Club (runner up Hampshire A) and this was followed by periods of dominance in the 1970’s and early 80’s from Denstone College, Bere Forest and Luton Tigers respectively. Inaugural Youth finals followed in 1978 and for Ladies in 1982.
The National Championships at Crystal Palace were a knockout cup competition, with regional tournaments providing qualification through to the finals. It therefore soon became necessary for the development of a National League structure to provide more competitive opportunities across the country.
By 1980 this was in place for the ‘Open’ category with an Open second division starting in 1981, A National Ladies league followed in 1982 and a National Youth league also in 1982
For first-hand accounts relating to the early years of competitive Canoe Polo in the UK and other material relevant to the history of Canoe Polo in the UK please follow this link to the ‘Magazines and other archive materials’ section of the website.
by Andrew Leaf