SCHOOL REPORT ST JOSEPH'S SCHOOL FOR DEAF BOYS, CABRA:ALTHOUGH ST JOSEPH'S School for Deaf Boys was founded over 150 years ago, it wasn't until 1980 that one of its students sat the Leaving Certificate for the first time. Indeed, the school only took up water polo in 1997. Yet within seven years it had won back-to-back senior Leinster titles, playing against the best of the province's hearing schools, including Blackrock College, St Vincent's and St Aidan's of Whitehall.

Tucked away on an expanse of land off the Navan Road in Dublin, replete with three soccer pitches and a small riding school, which houses four horses and two donkeys, St Joseph's prowess in water polo is a heartening story, particularly as it suffers from dwindling school numbers. Twenty years ago, its primary and secondary schools numbered 400 students in total. Today, that number has been quartered.

"We had more kids to draw from," laments Val Quinn, school principal. "The children we had then were straightforward deaf. That was their only difficulty. There are additional disabilities coming in now. Behavioural would be one. Some of them might be autistic."

Thanks to the fundraising efforts of parents, the school built a 25-metre swimming pool on its grounds in 1973. The students took to swimming immediately. Indeed, several of its past pupils have gone on to compete in the Deaf Olympic Games. The school had to weather some tough knocks in the early days of its water polo adventure, though.

"In '97, we were being hockeyed by every team going," says Brian Fitzpatrick, one of the school's water polo coaches. "We'd go down to Marian (College, Ballsbridge) and we'd be beaten 14-6 or 14-5."

The big breakthrough came in November 2001 when the school won a Leinster junior title. As a young team, it provided the nucleus of its senior team for the next three or four years, as it toured around the country in "the school ambulance", a 25-seater bus, in search of an elusive national title. The school came closest in 2004 when it lost 3-2 to St Mary's of Belfast.

The training for the water polo team is punishing, by necessity. Players have to tread water for the duration of the hour-long games. Each team will have seven players in the pool at any one time, with the option to roll on and off its five subs during breaks in play.

Members of the school's senior team can expect to train four or five times a week - sometimes starting at 6.30am - in addition to club commitments they might have. Stamina work demands Fitzpatrick's charges would thrash up and down the pool for three or four kilometres during a session. There are breaks, of course: 20-second ones in between the sets. "But the slower you get in, the less break you get," he says, laughing.

They also work on shooting, passing and defending drills. This is where they have to overcome an obvious handicap.

"The hearing players are always talking to each other, and always communicating. Sometimes it's difficult for the deaf; sometimes you nearly have to tap somebody on the shoulder to get their attention," says Keith Blount, 16, who is on the schools' senior team.

"There are three things they watch," adds Fitzpatrick: "the referee because he gives a signal all the time, whichever way the foul is going; otherwise, he'll have his hand down."

The coach is the second reference point. Water polo is like basketball. A team retains the ball for 30 seconds, but if it has failed to score within this time, it loses possession, at which point the opposition team's defence immediately switches into attack.

At that point, "the coach wants one of them to go on a quick break," explains Fitzpatrick, "so you're watching the coach, you're watching the ref, and you're also watching your opposite number. For the deaf, they have to watch all three. With hearing teams, they can talk to each other so it's really just their opposition they're watching."

Fighting the odds has never been a beef with St Joseph's, though. "They love (five-foot seven-inch international rugby player) Peter Stringer around here," says Quinn.

"We've one fella in school and he looks like him. He's the same size and he's got the same attitude: 'Bring in an eight-foot fella and I'll tackle him for you.' "

Along with this kind of fighting spirit, sport has taught the school's pupils discipline; pace those early morning pool sessions and the rigour required to keep a cool temperament in a water polo game that is overseen by two referees; and, critically, it helps to normalise their social interactions.

"The huge advantage is that they can be assimilated with hearing boys from hearing schools," says Quinn.

"They can go out there and compete with other schools. Young hearing fellas will look at them and say, 'We played a deaf team' and see that they're perfectly normal youngsters except that their ears don't work. That is the magic of it."

School facts

School: St Joseph's School for Deaf Boys, Navan Road, Dublin.

Founded: 1857 by The Catholic Institute for the Deaf; its sister school is the nearby St Mary's School for Deaf Girls in Cabra.

Number of pupils: 55 at second level, with further pupils in its primary school.

Sports played: Water polo, swimming, basketball, judo, cross-country running, horse-riding, snooker, table tennis and unihoc (indoor hockey).

Water polo titles: Leinster Junior Cups (2001-2002, 2003-2004, 2005-2006); Leinster Senior Cups (2002-2003, 2004-2005, 2006-2007); Leinster Senior Leagues (2003-2004, 2004-2005, 2006-2007).

Notable past pupils: Tim Grace, who was profoundly deaf, played soccer for Bohemians' first team in the League of Ireland in the 1960s.

Inside track

Name: Thomas McCarthy, member of St Joseph's senior water polo team (pictured left).

Age: 17.

Position: Midfield.

Water polo hero: Former pupil, Eoin Nolan. "He was strong, a very good swimmer. He was able to play with deaf and hearing teams. Sometimes he was very rough. You have to be rough to play this game!"

Highlight of school sports career: Winning the Leinster Senior Cup in 2006.

Play any other sports? Rugby for Coolmine RFC.