ALTHOUGH waterpolo is an Olympic sport, outside the games the sport doesn't attract much attention.

Murwillumbah High School English teacher Mark Edwards hopes to change that and has worked hard over the last 40 or so years to raise the sport's profile.

"It's like football in the water.

"It's quite a difficult sport which may be the reason relatively few people play it.

"But, it's better than playing cricket," Mr Edwards said.

Mr Edwards has been chosen to coach the NSW North Coast Open Boys team that will compete at the four-day state championships in Albury starting November 23.

Mr Edwards said the team had a really good chance to do well this year.

"The team has made semis and finals consistently over the last few years.

"Waterpolo is popular in this area which is a real achievement as it competes with much bigger sports," Mr Edwards said.

As a coach Mr Edwards is no stranger to success and he coached his NSW All Schools boys team to first spot in the state championships last year.

Mr Edwards said his biggest achievements in the sport were his involvements with the 1999 World Cup and the 2000 Olympics where he acted as a liaison officer for overseas teams.

"Everyone loves watching the sport during the Olympics but that doesn't translate into more players.

"It's frustrating to see the sport isn't growing as much as I'd like it to," Mr Edwards said.