Invaluable Experience for Stingers at Tri Nations

The Tri Nations Test Match Series delivered a mixed bag of results for the Aussie Stingers as they hosted USA and Japan for a three test series in Perth.

It was the first time since the Covid pandemic that Australia has been able to host international teams on home soil, providing junior fans taking part in the Australian Youth Water Polo Championships the opportunity to see their heroes up close.

The women hosted the current Olympic and World Champions USA, and went down to them in the final two matches, after delivering a draw in the first match.

“The results didn’t go our way but I think it has been a very good learning experience for our girls,” dual Olympian, NSWIS scholarship holder and Aussie Stingers Captain Zoe Arancini said.

“I think the results are quite good considering they are reigning Olympic and World Champions and we have a young and inexperienced squad… I would say those score lines are pretty respectable.

“We have to remember that the pandemic shut down two years of international water polo, so our junior players missed two years of playing international teams. It’s invaluable for them to get this experience, not just for the Paris [Olympic] cycle, but LA and Brisbane too.”

Aussie Stingers Head Coach, Paul Oberman, said he’s taking a lot of positives out of this week as he looked to introduce more young players to the international stage, with quite a number of players based overseas currently.

“We’ve done really well, I’m super positive.  They are a young group but they have been challenged by the Olympic and World Champions, and any time you get the chance to challenge yourself against them it’s a fantastic opportunity to learn but also see what you can do

“We had 22 players given an opportunity last year to represent Australia, we have more this time.”

“We can only get better. The more experience we put into the players the better they are going to become.”

“We are sixth in the world now, we’re not happy… we are really confident we are going to keep improving, and I think we’ll surprise some people,” he said.

In camp with the Aussie Stingers forming part of the coaching group and support start were a number of Olympians from over the years, including members of the gold medal team from Sydney 2000.

“They provide a lot of mentoring, are role models for our players and offer a different perspective to what I bring. There is a successful group of women around this squad because success breeds success,” he said.

Article and image courtesy of Water Polo Australia