CLERMONT, Fla. —  When it comes to summertime activities, water polo may not be the first one to come to mind, but the Orlando Thunder team in Clermont is hoping to change that for children as young as 8 years old.

What You Need To Know

  •  Orlando Thunder Water Polo introduced new youth programs for learning water polo

  •  Youths ages 8-18 are able to learn the basics and begin playing

  • Water polo is rising in popularity in Florida, with more high schools offering the sport 

The game has grown a lot over the years, and now the Thunder is inspiring the next generation. 

While it may seem the best way to spend the summer is splashing in the pool, these young athletes are putting in the work while trying something new. 

"Summer's the time to learn and try new things," Orlando Thunder Water Polo coach Emily Diacono said. "They just see it over there and are like, ‘Oh that looks really fun. I wanna try it.’ So, they go over there and learn how to play."

That's how Diacono, or "Coach Dio," says a lot of the youths gravitate to Orlando Thunder Water Polo. She herself was once that young player who fell into the sport out of her own curiosity.

"My sisters, they played, and what happened was I was like, 'I’m never gonna play water polo. My older siblings play.' But again, watching it, I was like, 'Oh that looks really fun'," Diacono said.

She eventually played collegiately at Fresno State under scholarship. Now she hopes to inspire the next group of athletes to see where the game takes them. 

"When we have kids this young and they're kinda getting the feel for the water, you can kinda see the development is much better as they get older because they're getting these fundamentals down," Diacono said.

A growing number of high schools offer the sport. However, especially for young girls, the game is still pretty new for most.

"It's grown so much as a sport, especially for women," Diacono said. "In 2000, the Olympic team, that's when the Olympics first allowed women's water polo initially; 2000 was the first year for that. And ever since then, it's just grown....The men's teams have been competing since the 1980s, but it really became world renowned, an NCAA college sport in 2000 for women. You see our Olympic team now. They've won gold so many times it's hard to count. Seeing those athletes on such a high stage really inspires our young athletes like, 'Wow! That's where I wanna be'."

Before diving headfirst into Olympic talk, it is important to get the fundamentals down. That's why Orlando Thunder gives this unique opportunity to get an early start, before they pursue the game at the high school level.

"When they are finally getting something, I get chills sometimes," Diacono said. "I'm like, 'You guys did it!' And they're like, 'Why are you freaking out?' But it's amazing because your work as a coach and their development as an athlete, that's what's so rewarding as a coach. That's why a lot of coaches do what they do, not for the publicity themselves but (for) what the athletes are doing and accomplishing.

"This is just so awesome because you get to go home at the end of the day, knowing you did your job but that also you're sending these kids home super happy with a smile on their face," she said.