Overheard my son talking to his friend(both are 10).
Friend: “Why is it called Water Polo?”
My son: “Well, it’s in the water. And Marco Polo. So ‘water polo’.”
Despite being wrong, he has a great mind for connections. I explained actual polo to them.
Wait, what, we’re wrong?
This is obviously the right answer. And, there is a requirement to be sportsmanlike in the game, called the Spirit of the Game. Even at high levels, you typically don’t have refs, rather you have advisors or something like that.
And, I also agree with you that any sport where the Olympic event is not that important (tennis, golf, soccer, road biking) should be removed. I would also remove equestrian events, speed walking, rhythmic gymnastics, and synchronized swimming.
I’m keeping equestrian on my list as Team GB usually do quite well in it. I also like watching it, and don’t get to see it at any other time.
I think they need to return water polo to its roots, and bring back the horses in the pool.
As to which sport to add, I’d like to see parkour in the Olympics, perhaps replacing race walking, which just looks silly.
Seconding the recommendation of squash, and perhaps racketlon for seeing who the best all-around racket sports player is.
Nope, squash has never made it onto the Olympics’ official program. It was included as a demonstration sport at the 2018 Youth Olympics, but obviously that wasn’t “many years ago”. Maybe you watched one of the world championships?
Another idea of mine is to remove men’s football/soccer, and replace it with futsal with no age restrictions.
I would definitely rather watch futsal than soccer in the Olympics. I would remove basketball and keep 3x3, and I have been loving rugby sevens, and I’m glad it was added instead of regular rugby.
I hadn’t even heard of futsal as a popular enough sport outside of intramural indoor soccer to stay fit during the off season. What about handball? Keep or Delete?
Handball is the dumbest sport. Every other similar sport requires some extra skill – hockey (ice skating, handling a puck with a stick), polo (horseback riding, hitting a ball with a stick), basketball (hitting a small basket with a pretty big ball, constant dribbling), lacrosse, water polo, soccer. They are all essentially the same sport. Only with handball, there is no extra difficulty – just run around and throw a ball.
Delete.
I think you have to count steps. 
Outside USA/Canada it’s pretty popular, there’s a futsal world cup and associated regional competitions. Google says that it is played by over 100 countries and 10 million players, though I don’t know how scientific that data is.
I’d keep it. I find it reasonably entertaining, and the Olympics is the premier competition for the sport. However, I’d rather they use a shot clock, instead of relying on referees’ subjective judgement of what constitutes passive play.
How about if they used one of those cartoon-style bombs, black spheres with the little fuse lit. The fuse will cause the bomb to explode in x seconds, covering whoever is holding it with green goo. That will stop the passive play.
Handball is one of the most exciting sports in the Olympics. Why it’s never caught on in the U.S. is really beyond me.
Just thought of another sport that can be deleted, IMO.
White water kayaking.
Keep the rowing though.
Agreed, I really prefer it to basketball and I am trying to make sure I’ve seen every single handball match. This game could totally catch on in the USA
I think my kids played it in gym class. You know, because it doesn’t require any extra skill, unlike field hockey, water polo, etc…
Nor much extra equipment, a ball and some thing for the goals.
Yeah, I agree it’s probably a fun game for kids to play.
Handball is one of the physically most hardest ball games, with constant rough body contact, much rougher than football/soccer for instance. If you fall, and you’ll fall often, it’s on a hard floor. Yeah, kids can play it, but world class handball is no kid’s play. Haven’t you noticed how athletic the players are?
You beat me to it.
Disc sports were recently recognized by the IOC, making them eligible for consideration, but Ultimate has been rejected through 2024. There’s high hopes that it’ll be included in 2028 since Los Angeles is hosting.
Ultimate is fun to watch, has a growing community, is easy to learn, and has lower barriers to entry than most other sports. You need a disc, a field, and some players with cleats. Seems perfect to me.