Tauranga Taniwha off to the US

The Tauranga Taniwha under 14 girls’ water polo team is heading to Hawaii in August to compete in an international tournament. Photo: Nikki South.

A chance to hone their skills to compete on the national stage later this year will see the Tauranga Taniwha under 14 girls' water polo team head to Hawaii next month for an invitational tournament.

The Hawaiian Invitational Water Polo Tournament has been running since 1968 and is one of the largest and most prestigious tournaments in the world, attracting as many as 115 teams.

The 11-member Tauranga Taniwha team has been training for several months under coach Rob Lemoto with assistance from Matt Valentine.

Rob says the heart of water polo in New Zealand is in Auckland, with the under 14 girls there involved in regular competition, including an Auckland championship. In Tauranga the competition is largely inter-school during the summer months, with the occasional informal tournament organised with Rotorua and Waikato teams.

'We tried to get involved in the Auckland championship as a way for the girls to get the experience and skills they need leading up to nationals later in the year but they don't have the pool space to take teams outside of Auckland.”

Rob says the Hawaii tournament is a great development opportunity for the girls.

'They're good players but they miss out on the opportunities to develop. This tournament is a great opportunity and will enable them to go to our trials for nationals in September with a bit more experience under their belt.”

The games in Hawaii are held in outdoor pools, which will be a new experience for the girls, says Rob.

'Windermere here in Tauranga is outdoors but it's very small so we train at Baywave. Overseas, water polo is played outdoors a lot so it will be the first time the girls have played in an outdoor pool in a formal competition.”

With pool space at a premium in Tauranga, not all training is in the water. Matt Valentine takes the team for land-based strengthening and conditioning, as well as mental preparation.

'He developed a land-based programme for legs and core, but he also helps them to mentally push themselves. He talks them through the mental toughness needed to succeed,” says Rob.

The results have been impressive, with the girls going from planking for 30 seconds in the first training session to planking for two-and-a-half minutes at the latest session.

The girls have 'fund-raised their backsides off” in order to attend August's competition, including selling wine and cheese rolls, running sausage sizzles, waitressing at the Ladies Charity Lunch event and holding their own quiz dinner night.

'It's been a lot of hard work, but an important part of their team bonding,” says Rob.

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