TAMPA - If you've got a passion to expose more black children to swimming while simultaneously build a competitive water polo team, what do you do?
If you're Dez Williams, you host a series of free clinics at neighborhood pools including Ybor City and Sulphur Springs.
About 15 kids showed up at the first clinic held last month at Cuscaden Pool, double the number that's necessary to fill out a roster. The next clinic will take place from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday (July 28) at Cuscaden.
Williams, founder of beverage company Aquamelon, said it's proof that a sport long associated with middle-to-upper class and predominantly white communities can catch on with black inner city youth.
Tampa - with its 12 pools dotted throughout the metropolis - is an ideal area to set up a youth water polo league backed by sponsors that can compete regionally with teams already established in Sarasota and Clearwater as well as on the statewide level, he said.
"(The pools) are all located in Tampa's oldest communities which are predominantly communities of color," he said. "Those pools have been underutilized. That creates an additional value for taxpayers dollars."
The significance of this isn't lost on Williams, who played the sport both in high school and at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. A 2017 study by the USA Swimming Foundation revealed that 64 percent of black children had no or low swimming ability.
Lack of access to pools because of decades of segregationist policies kept learning to swim out of reach for blacks for generations. According to the study, if a parent doesn't know how to swim it's likely neither will their children.
But Williams said he isn't looking for swimmers. He's looking for young athletes who want to try a different sport.
"You don't have to be a swimmer," he said. "We'll get you there. We'll teach you how to swim."
Williams rates dedication to learning the sport and a willingness to be part of a team as more important than knowing how to swim.
Playing water polo can be a pathway to college or the Olympics - much like basketball and football, said Zach Kappos, who played the sport at California State University - Long Beach and is coaching the clinics.
"There are so many scholarship opportunities for water polo," he said. "Coaches are searching for new athletes to come in. They're looking at Texas and Florida."
Williams concurred.
"Florida is a huge opportunity state," he said. "I'm saying let's flip the switch."
Contact Kenya Woodard at hillsnews@tampabay.com.
