Canoe Polo is a fast, energetic and extremely skilful game. It combines the ball skills of water polo with kayaking skills for manoeuvrability and is played in swimming pools or sheltered sections of a river. 

Each team has up to eight players, with up to five being on the playing field at any one time. The field is 35 x 20 metres in size, with a goal suspended 2 metres above the water at each end. The rules are based on safety, allowing fast, exciting play that is very entertaining for spectators. 

Each player paddles a specially designed kayak called a ‘polo bat’ that is up to 3 metres long. Players in possession of the ball can be ‘tackled’ by the opposition’s kayak, or ‘hand tackled’ on the shoulder and capsized. The ball is passed hand to hand as in water polo, or flicked using the paddle. Paddles can also be used to intercept passes and block shots at goal.