An old quarry in the forests of Ohio is gaining cult status among water polo enthusiasts as the venue for one of North America’s most unusual outdoor festivals.

Known as The Quarry Scramble, the two-day tournament combines water polo, camping, cliff jumping and rafting on the former site of a free-loving hippy haven that sprung up after the Nelson Ledges Quarry near Garrettsville was abandoned.

This year’s festival, held on 3-4 August, was the Scramble’s fifth anniversary. It saw a record 230 water polo players travel from across the United States and Canada for what is becoming an annual pilgrimage.

Organisers Kacy Pugh and Kyle Ford said the tournament differed from other water polo events because teams are made up of people who don’t know each other beforehand.

Friday night. The wind is howling and a polar blast is forecast to hit the Sydney coast in the morning. You might think plunging into the waters off Botany Bay for a beach water polo tournament would be the last thing on anyone’s mind, but for Scott Nicholson and the rest of the Beach Water Polo Fours tournament organisers, the icy forecast just added to the thrill.

Played last Saturday, in the midst of the Australian winter, the inaugural Beach Water Polo Fours Winter Classic saw 40 keen participants don their booties and wetsuits for a day of fast-paced four-a-side beach water polo action.

Matches were played using inflatable water polo fields and goals from Packaworld, and hot tubs were brought in to help players stay warm during downtime.

Some of England’s top water polo players took to the water off Manchester’s iconic Media City, Salford Quays for a festival of outdoor water polo on Saturday. 

The Packaworld-sponsored event, played in brilliant sunshine, was the third and final event on the 2019 MANUP! Water Polo calendar.

MANUP! Water Polo Co-founder Craig Stowell said eight men’s teams and four women’s teams took to the water for the festival, competing in six-a-side matches to be crowned champions.

At the end of the men’s competition defending champions Castleford emerged victorious, beating Sedgefield in the final. Tournament newcomers City of Manchester won the women’s competition with a victory over Liverpool.

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef became the stage for a world-first water polo event on Sunday, when members of the Australian women’s water polo team took to its warm tropical waters for a one-of-a-kind exhibition match.

The match was organised by Cairns Water Polo Club and Sunlover Reef Cruises, with special permission from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. It was played 47 km offshore alongside the Moore Reef Marine Base using a portable Packaworld water polo field and Water Polo Packagoals.

“It was a pretty spectacular day,” says Cairns Water Polo president Jesse O’Hara.

“The blue and green colours were just shining through the water, the reef was looking great and there were plenty of fish around.”

Twelve teams from across England plunged into the waters off Liverpool’s Historic Royal Albert Dock on Saturday for the second MANUP! Water Polo Festival of 2019.

The event saw eight men’s teams and four women’s teams play non-stop, back to back games in soaring summer temperatures in a fantastic outdoor location.

MANUP! Water Polo Co-founder Craig Stowell said teams from Oxford, Durham and Loughborough Universities travelled to the event to participate, joining City of Birmingham, Bridgefield, Liverpool, Warrington, Chester, Tyldesley and Castleford.

Liverpool club Bridgefield narrowly beat last year’s Salford Quays MANUP! Water Polo competition winners Castleford in the men’s final, with City of Liverpool victorious against Tyldesley in the women’s final.

Some of the young guns of English water polo dived into Nantwich Outdoor Pool in Cheshire, England, on Saturday for the MANUP! Junior Edition festival of open-air water polo.

The festival was the first in a series of three unique open-air events being run by MANUP! Water Polo this year. Packaworld is sponsoring the series by providing portable Water Polo Packagoals for all matches.

MANUP! Water Polo Co-founder Craig Stowell said the Nantwich event attracted 10 teams from across England with players aged 15 and under. Liverpool-based Bridgefield Water Polo Club finished in first place, beating City of Sheffield Water Polo Club in a hard-fought final.

“It was a great day out and a real showcase of the talented young players that are emerging in England," he said.

Dubai has emerged victorious in the United Arab Emirates' first ever international beach water polo tournament.

The pioneering event, hosted by the Dubai Camels Water Polo Club on 3-4 May, attracted hundreds of players and spectators to the sparkling waters off Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah artificial island. Six teams from the Middle East and as far away as Afghanistan competed over two days using an inflatable water polo field and goals provided by portable sports equipment provider Packaworld International.

Organiser and President of Dubai Camels Water Polo Club Peter Burger  said the event was the first of its kind in the UAE and was designed as a pilot for larger tournaments in the region in future. The home team from Dubai won the final on Saturday with a victory over fellow UAE team Abu Dhabi.

It will soon be easier than ever before for Australians to get hold of high-quality portable sports equipment, thanks to an agreement between Packaworld International and Sydney warehousing and logistics business ACR Supply Partners.

The agreement will see Packaworld products stored on-shore in Sydney and shipped to Australian addresses direct from the ACR Supply Partners’ warehouse. As a result, shipping costs for Australians will be lower and delivery will be quicker.

“We’re on a mission to help bring the joy of sport to the more people,” says Packaworld Chief Executive Peter Roberts.

“The past year has seen an increase in sales and interest in what we are doing, especially in the sport of water polo, so we’ve decided to make a bigger commitment to Australia. Storing our products in-country will make it easier than ever for Australian sports organisations, clubs and families to buy portable Packaworld sports equipment.”