If you play sports, you may have had your uniform checked out before the game. In soccer, the refs often check shin guards. In basketball, players are checked for any jewelry. But unless you’ve ever played women’s water polo, you most likely have not had your fingernails and toenails checked prior to a game.

While many women’s sports lack aspects of the men’s game, women’s water polo in no way lacks the brutality found in men’s water polo. The women may not be quite as physical as their male counterparts, but scratches and bruises are common finds after matches.

In fact, women play with the exact same set of rules as men do and often make up for the men’s physicality with sneaky and dirty play. Clawing at opponents and tugging them under water – “drowning,” although not with actual intent to kill – are common tactics employed below the surface.

Despite the sport’s brutality, women’s water polo is rapidly on the rise at Georgetown after the women’s water polo club team was started just five years ago.

“Once you start to play, you fall in love with the game,” Head Coach Liz Gay said. Gay graduated from Georgetown in 2009 after playing on the team for four years. This is Gay’s first year as coach, in the team’s first year with a coach. In the past, the captain, or captains, of the team dually served as the coach.

“Coaching is a great break from work and is a lot of fun,” Gay said. “It’s great for the team [as well] to have more time to enjoy the game.”

The team was started in 2005 through the efforts of a junior and a donation from her father. At the time, they were able to get six or seven freshmen out to play along with only a couple upperclassmen, but the team has grown to 15 members since then.

Seniors Alina Levine and Hilary Nakasone have served as captains of the team for two years. Both also served as coaches last year. Levine and Nakasone are two of a trio of seniors, the third being senior Emily Durfee, that have played since their freshman years.

“It’s so amazing having Liz back and having someone out of the pool watching,” Levine said. Levine is one of two goalies on the team and had the opportunity to play with her current coach early in her career.

“Hilary and Alina have really carried our team for the past year and a half,” Gay said of her two captains.

However, only having three seniors on the team has urged the junior class to assume leadership. Juniors Ryan Crowe, Jackie Stone, Patricia Kehoe and Gahan Furlane have emerged as leaders of the team, while junior Sammy Magnuson is the second half of the team’s goalie duo, alternating games with Levine.

“The juniors are a good mix of girls,” Gay said. “We have some that will be great leaders and help out with coaching and also some solid players.”

“The juniors are the biggest group and strongest players on the team,” Levine added. “They are the glue to the team.”

While the team has grown significantly over the past five years, it has not yet been able to join a league. In order for any club team to do so, it needs to establish itself as competitive and legitimate. This can often take a long time, but both Levine and Gay believe that the Hoyas are very close to joining a league.

“My goal is to keep the strong set of players we have now and hopefully by next year we will be able to get in a league,” said Levine.

“This is the first year we have

gotten emails from other teams reaching out to us,” Gay said. “This is very exciting, especially coming from where we were my freshman year.”

If Georgetown were to join a league, it would be the same that the men’s team plays in – the Atlantic Division, which operates under the Collegiate Water Polo Association. However, the women play their main season in the spring, while the men play in the fall.

The team usually has a couple of single games in the fall before the tournaments in the spring, but unfortunately this year the team has not been able to play any games so far. In the spring, the team will face off against a variety of East Coast opponents, including teams such as Penn, James Madison, Richmond and University of Virginia. The team often faces local club teams as well, such as Rockville, Md., and the Washington Wetskins.

One reason for the quick growth of the team is the fact that the sport is very easy to pick up. While many of the girls on the team played in high school, a good number have been swimmers that joined the team once they reached the Hilltop. Levine is a prime example.

“I’ve been swimming competitively since I was eight,” Levine said. “I didn’t realize how tired I was getting of it. Water polo brought the fun back.”

Because the sport is relatively easy to learn, the team is always welcome to taking new members regardless of their level of experience.

“You only need to be a strong swimmer and we can teach you the rest,” Levine said.

The team practices twice a week in the Yates Field House pool and has optional team workouts just as frequently. As far as their strategy in the pool goes, the team sticks mainly to the fundamentals. Gay runs a typical umbrella offense with one “hole” player in the middle. This position is usually filled by a stronger and bigger player, while the rest of the players form an arc around the hole. These players are usually quicker and do most of the shooting. Fortunately, the team has a couple of different players that are capable of playing the hole position. Coach Gay also sticks to the classic water polo philosophy of stressing defense over offense.

“Because water polo is such a physical game, if your defense is not top notch, you will get blown out of the water,” Gay said. “The defense is an opportunity to have a good offense.”

In general, the Hoyas are a very tight-knit team in and out of the pool. Not only has the team grown in number and skill, but it has also grown as a family and as a unit. And for such a physical and brutal sport, chemistry goes a long way.

“We have as much fun as we work hard,” Gay said.

Come spring, the Hoyas will finally have the chance to make a case for joining a league, and continue to expand a still-growing program.”