Since 1995, the Stichting NSZ has been the representative for Dutch student swim sports. Currently, 15 associations with a total of about 1300 swimmers are affiliated with the Stichting NSZ. Apart from the fact that we represent and lobby for all of the Dutch student swim sports, we try to improve the contact between all swimming students and promote swimming sports among the student community in general. One of our efforts is the organisation of water polo matches for students.
The Dutch Student Water Polo Competition (NSWK)
The student water polo competition, abbreviated as NSWK in Dutch, consists of four tournament days per season and is accessible for student water polo players from Dutch Higher Education (HBO and WO) who are new to the sport and a member of a local association affiliated with the Stichting NSZ. NSWK started with a pilot in 2013-2014, and has grown to be a huge success. NSWK matches were originally meant to offer a podium and place to play for beginning water polo teams, and gain real competitive experience through this. In the year 2020-2021 NSWK days see matches bewteen 12 teams spread out across 2 different pools; one for players new to the sport and one for more experienced players. Often, NSWKs also offer space for student teams from non-Stichting NSZ associations to try out and see what it is like to play in our competitions, so please do not hesitate to contact us about that. For more information, please check out NSWK’s.
Water polo on other student events
Next to the NSWKs, student water polo teams also see plenty of action. At the Great Dutch Student Championships (GNSK), water polo is regularly chosen to be one of the 20 present sports. During this multi-sports event for students of Dutch Higher Education (HBO and WO) with over 2000 participants, student athletes compete for the title of ‘Dutch Student Champion’ and ‘Best Student City of the Netherlands’. Also, water polo is one of the sports during the European University Games of 2021 in Belgrade, Serbia. During this event, student athletes from different universities from all over the world compete with each other. The previous edition, held in 2018 in Coimbra, Portugal, saw over 4000 participants from 291 different universities from 38 countries. A huge student sports event!
Moreover, Dutch and international student water polo teams are always well represented at various large tournaments throughout Europe, such as the Schuurman BZC tournament in Borculo, the Goffert tournament in Nijmegen, the WAVE Winter Tournament, and many others.