They call him “The Octopus”.
When 10-year-old Oliver Pratt is playing water polo, his long limbs outstretched in the hole set position, his hands seem to get into every play whether he’s on defense or firing a shot on goal.
Oliver the Octopus will get a chance to compete on the national stage at the 2024 USA Water Polo Junior Olympic Championships from July 19-23 in San Francisco with his 10U squad from the Del Mar Water Polo Club.
Along with Oliver’s team, the successful Del Mar Water Polo Club is sending hundreds of athletes to compete in the Junior Olympics across multiple age divisions. Internationally, the club is also being represented by athletes competing in the 2024 World Aquatics U16 Water Polo Championships in Malta.
A student at Capri Elementary School, Oliver is a sixth-generation Encinitas local, “We’ll never leave Encinitas, we love it too much,” said mom Jessica (Mahoney) Pratt.
Oliver, who also plays soccer and golf, was introduced to water polo at a young age. “My dad played in high school and he said it was a really fun sport so I thought I would give it a try,” Oliver said.
When he was six he started playing “splashball” in Carlsbad, where the young players can touch the bottom of the pool while they learn the basics of the game.
After mastering the basics and becoming a stronger swimmer, Oliver started to take his game more seriously and moved to the Del Mar Water Polo Club, making new friends and working with “by far the best coaches I’ve ever had”: “They’re super kind and taught me a ton of moves in the water,” he said of his coaches.
Oliver practices four days a week at Cathedral Catholic High School and plays in tournaments over the weekends, so regularly about six days of his week are spent in the water. This summer, he will also be going to junior lifeguard summer camp.
Playing at the center (hole set) position, Oliver is a fierce competitor.
“My position is one of the more difficult positions so I have to be really physical with it,” said Oliver. The position is often the biggest target for the other team and his opponents can get very aggressive: “At one of the Junior Olympic qualifiers, another kid got the ball and he head-butted me and my tooth hit my lip and started to bleed.”
For Oliver and his teammates, gearing up for Junior Olympics will mean lots of practice, including swimming thousands of yards with push-ups and sit-ups in between. But Oliver said you have to really love that kind of hard work in practice for it to pay off in the games, and for the chance to compete on the national stage.
“I wouldn’t be able to do it without my teammates,” said Oliver. “I’m really looking forward to representing my country and my 10U team for water polo. I’m excited to see all the different teams that qualify.”
