2011-12 Annual Report - Australian Water Polo Inc

WATER POLO AUSTRALIA 2011/12 ANNUAL REPORT
Born ‘91 Junior Women’s
Report
24
The Australian junior
women’s water polo
program had a
successful campaign,
which started with a
training camp in Perth
playing against senior
international teams
Greece, Australia, New
Zealand and Hungary
in the Pre Senior
World Championships
Tournament,
followed by a test
series against the
Australian University
Game’s Team.
Australian Training Camp and
Competition
The preparation for the FINA Junior Women’s
World Championships started with a training
camp in Perth, 1-23 July. The camp started
with testing and team building activities for
3 days followed by the senior international
tournament. The squad selected for this
tournament consisted the following 14 players;
Goal Keepers
Kelsey Wakefield (1991, QLD)
Eloise Pierce (1993, WA)
Field Players:
Centre Forwards/Centre Backs:
Jayde Appel (1994, NSW)
Hannah Buckling (1992, NSW)
Emily Scott (1991, NSW)
Ashleigh Southern (1992, QLD)
Olivia King (1992, QLD)
Genevieve Venosta (1992, VIC)
Drivers:
Madison Schmid (1994, NSW)
Emma Jo Graham (1991, VIC)
Zoe Arancini (1991, WA)
Eliesha Browne (1992, WA)
Isobel Bishop (1991, SA)
Claire Pierce (1991,WA)
European and World
Championships Tour
After the training camp 13 players were
selected to travel to Europe for Junior World
Championships preparation. Unfortunately
goalkeeper, Eloise Pierce, had to withdraw
which saw Michaela Davies selected due her
performance from previous camps.
The final preparation started with a 3-day
tournament in Hungary where we finished
2nd followed by a friendly against the
Hungarian u20 National Team, claiming a
win 11-9.
We then had a training camp and test series
in Holland, against the Nederland and
Canadian u20 National Teams, winning two
from three games.
FINA Junior World
Championships Trieste, Italy
Once we arrived in Trieste for the World
Championships our main problem was
facing several injuries. Luckily we arranged
physiotherapist, Fiona Millar, to meet us in
Italy and become part of the team as almost
everyone had a minor or major injury. Having
a physiotherapist on tour for u18 and u20
World Championships, in my opinion, is
highly recommended.
Our first game was thrilling 9-all draw with
Hungary on the opening day. We had great
start with an early lead and remained in front
on the scoreboard until midway through the
third period before Hungary took control,
forcing us to win the last quarter to snatch
the draw. It was a very physical game as we
expected. I was pleased with our defence
but we needed to improve our offense as
many of their goals came from our missed
opportunities.
We beat Mexico 32-3 in the second round
robin match. The game presented an
opportunity to practice some skills ahead
of the clash with China. We respected the
Mexicans, so we played our best. At some
stages we made mistakes, but most of the
time we played impressive, skilful water polo.
Despite an impressive 18-7 win over China,
we finished second in the group after the
round robin stage. We went into the game
needing to win by at least 14 goals to be top
of our group and earn an automatic seeding
into the quarterfinals. The second placing in
Group A meant we had to play Uzbekistan in
the next qualifying round.
We moved into the quarterfinals after
accounting for Uzbekistan 17-5 in the
qualifying round. Our start was not as good
I expected, but within few minutes the girls
switched on. The game against Uzbekistan
allowed the team to prepare for the do or
die clash with the Greeks. It was a good win
despite the slow start but it allowed us to
practice tactics for the crucial game ahead.
In our most important game we totally
dominated Greece to score a 10-5 victory
and set up a semi final showdown with
Spain. All 13 players contributed in the
comprehensive quarterfinal triumph. The
end of the first period saw the scores tied
at 1-1 but we overpowered our opponents in
the second term scoring five goals to one,
effectively putting the game beyond the
Greeks. Greece tried in vain to get back into
the match in the third, getting within three
goals at 4-7 but my players reasserted their
superiority in the last period to close out the
game. I was very proud of the performance
of my team as we really dominated from the
very first second to the last whistle.
We went down 7-8 in a nerve-racking semi
final against Spain. Just a day earlier we had
demolished Greece 10-5 and carried that
form into our clash with Spain, getting off to
a flying start and leading 4-2 at quarter time.
We held the lead at half time, 5-4, before the
Spaniards piled on three unanswered goals
in the third period to set up what proved to
be a match winning lead.
Australia finished third at the FINA Women’s
Junior World Championships in Trieste, Italy
after dominating Russia 10-2 in the bronze
medal playoff. We led from start to finish 3-1 at
quarter time, 7-1 at the half and 9-1 at the last
break, to completely outplay a bewildered
Russian team. The victory was well deserved
for us as the team that lost the semi final to
eventual gold medallists, Spain, by a solitary
goal and stretched silver medallists Hungary
to a draw in the opening group stage match
on the first day of the tournament.
I wish to say thank you to all coaches,
athletes, officials, volunteers and parents for
supporting the program. I am really proud to
have five members of our team in contention
for selection in the Senior Women’s Team for
the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Lajos Peter Szilagyi
Head Coach B91 Women