Who we are
About the club
We are a non-profit youth water polo club in the Denver metro. Coaches and parents run it, and we have welcomed beginners every season since 2003.
Since 2003
Eight kids, one borrowed pool
Colorado Water Polo started in 2003 when Grier Laughlin gathered eight boys from Aurora-area high schools and taught them a sport almost nobody in the state was playing. They called themselves the Pirates. The name stuck.
Two decades later we run four age groups across two pools, send teams to Junior Olympics and the Olympic Development Program, and host the largest youth tournament in the Mountain Zone every year.
What hasn't changed is the front door. We are a non-profit, we are staffed by coaches and parent volunteers, and we take absolute beginners every single season. If your kid can handle deep water, we can teach them the rest.
Why Pirates
A skull, a ball, and two crossed cutlasses
Grier's first eight players needed a name before they needed a strategy. They picked Pirates, drew a jolly roger over a water polo ball, and went looking for someone to play.
Two decades on, the mark still goes on every cap, every suit, and every tournament shirt. It is on the deck at Hinkley on a Monday night and on the wall at the Grier every year.
Visiting clubs should be warned that our 12-year-olds take the name very seriously.
How we run the club
What we care about
Beginners first
Every group has a path in for someone who has never played. We would rather teach a new kid than recruit a finished one.
Cost stays low
We are a non-profit. Fees cover pool time and officials, and scholarship help is available to any family who asks.
Coaches who stay
Our staff are former players and long-time club coaches. Athletes see the same faces year over year.
On deck
Meet the coaches
Seven coaches run our four groups. They are USA Water Polo certified and background-checked, most of them played in this pool themselves, and several of them grew up as Pirates.
Where to find us
Our pools
Broomfield Community Center
North metro practices
280 Spader Way, Broomfield, CO 80020
Get directionsQuestions? Just ask.
We're parents too. Email us and a real person will answer.