Girls Making Splash : Water polo: Several crash boys’ teams at area schools but don’t want guys to take it easy.

Jenny Durley plays water polo, a sport which, when viewed underwater, often resembles a cross between wrestling and boxing.

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The faint of heart--not to mention muscle and endurance--need not apply.

Durley, a Thousand Oaks High junior, plays on the boys’ junior varsity, which lately has sparked a complaint.

Not from teammates. Not from opponents. From her.

“The guys tend to back off a little against girls,” she said. “They won’t throw elbows or anything and that kind of bothers me.”

And this from Thousand Oaks junior Tara Chahil: “When you play with the guys, they kind of take it easy on you.”

No such problems today and Saturday at the Thousand Oaks pool. Durley and Chahil are competing in a tournament of girls’ teams. Squads from Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Lakewood, Santa Margarita and the University of Arizona are entered.

“The sport is equally as exciting, if not more exciting, than the guys’ game,” Thousand Oaks girls’ Coach Jeff Warshaw said.

The rules and equipment are the same, and the game is just as long.

According to the players, there’s just that one major difference: “It’s a lot more violent and rough,” Chahil said of the girls’ game.

In the past 10 years, water polo has been growing in popularity among girls, many who play on boys’ teams. Increasingly, girls are pulling double duty. Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Oxnard and Ventura are some of the schools in the region that field girls’ teams. Some girls play on both.

Like the boys who play, many of the girls segued into water polo from swimming. Water polo affords a chance to be more aggressive and perform within the structure of a team.

“It’s a great sport,” said Kelly Maurer, a Newbury Park senior who has played for seven years. “It’s so different from other sports and that’s what makes it fun.”

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Water polo is so popular among the girls that some coaches have started a movement to have the sport sanctioned by the California Interscholastic Federation.

“Many coaches, parents, players and officials agree that a separate sport is needed,” Warshaw said. “And as more girls get interested, CIF is paying more attention.”

State officials will vote on the issue later this year. If approved, girls’ water polo could become a sanctioned sport next year.

The sport already is making strides at levels above high school. The NCAA recently recognized water polo in Division I. Next year, women’s water polo will be a demonstration sport at the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Newbury Park Coach Bruce Maurer expects a dramatic increase in participation if the girls’ sport is adopted at the high school level.

“Some girls don’t come out because they don’t want to play with the guys,” he said. “The preliminary interest is there but there are going to be people out there who are uncomfortable with the co-ed situation.”

Coaches are counting on competitions like the Thousand Oaks tournament to give the sport a boost.

“With the [Arizona] team playing it will be a great way for the girls to learn as well as gain some recognition for the sport,” Warshaw said.