February 23, 2012

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Water Polo Pan Pacs crucial to Aussie Olympic hopes

January 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The London Olympic Games may still be seven months away but the Water Polo Pan Pacs starting at Melbourne’s Sports and Aquatic Centre on Sunday will have an enormous baring on the chances of the Aussie Stingers women’s team.

The tournament, the biggest in Australia since the 2007 FINA World Championships that were also held in Melbourne, features teams from the USA, China, Canada, Japan, Brazil, New Zealand and the Australian Barbarians as well as the Stingers in the women’s field.

A confidence boosting tournament win in front of a home crowd will go a long way to ensuring the Stingers get to London in the frame of mind required to emulate the Australian women’s team from the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and claim gold.

But while the Stingers will be doing everything they can as a team to work towards a Pan Pac victory they are also competing against each other for the right to one of the 13 spots on the plane to London.

Currently with a squad of 19 – 13 who will play for the Stingers at the Pan Pacs and a further six that will play for the Australian Barbarians – the tournament will act as the most important Olympic trial of their collective lives.

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Stingers Win Gold at the Canada Cup

December 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Glencora Ralph - Named in the All Star team for the tournament

Congratulations to the Aussie Stingers who defeated China 11-8 to claim an all important victory ahead of the Water Polo Pan Pacs in Melbourne next month.

A first period double from Victoria’s Rowena Webster put China on the back foot, with further goals to Glencora Ralph, Holly Lincoln-Smith, Hannah Buckling and Jane Moran adding to the pressure.

China were able to mount a comeback early in the third quarter, scoring three straight goals, but strikes to young duo Isobel Bishop and Zoe Arancini helped Australia regain the ascendency.

Webster dominated the Chinese defence all game finishing the match with four goals, while Lea Barta was superb in goals making 14 saves.

Head coach Greg McFadden was excited about the progress of the group and said the result was a good sign for the future.

“The team was fantastic today,” McFadden said.

“In patches the girls were unbelievable, especially when we executed our game plan.

“We faltered a few times to allow easy goals which allowed China back into the game, but all in all it was a great performance going into the new year.”

Source: Australian Water Polo. Read more about the Stingers’ tournament and download game and player stats at www.australianwaterpolo.com.au.

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Sydney junior set to embark on once in a lifetime Olympic journey

November 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Hannah Buckling

Out of the 19 players still in contention for the Aussie Stingers’ 2012 London Olympics squad, Mosman’s Hannah Buckling holds the sole tag of being the youngest member of the squad and the only player not to have played a test for Australia.

To say she is the team bolter would be a slight understatement.

But if you strip all the hype and commotion and look at the hard facts, you begin to realise why Stingers head coach Greg McFadden decided to include her in the recent train on squads.

Buckling was part of the bronze medal winning Australian team at the Junior World Championships in August this year, and was a rock in central defence for the girls, but it was what the other coaches were saying about her that gained the attention of the national selectors.

“At the junior world championships all the coaches from the other countries were asking me who the big tall blonde centre back was,” junior coach Peter Szilagyi revealed.

“They were wondering why they hadn’t seen her with the senior team after she had been so dominant at centre back.“

In a remarkable performance by Buckling, she did not have a goal scored off her the whole tour.

The Aussie Juniors played 14 games during their campaign, with the 19-year-old earning best player honours in five of those matches, an achievement that capped off a fantastic month.

“The world juniors was the most amazing experience and I loved every second of it,” Buckling said.

“The team played so well all throughout the tour and we all became such good friends.

“The experience of playing at that international level really improved my water polo, and I think the team’s as well and Peter was such a great coach and was extremely encouraging throughout the whole tour.“

With a birth on the Olympics team now firmly on the radar, Buckling is working harder than ever to make the most of the opportunity and chase her dream.

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Stars Head to Canberra for Water Polo Challenge

November 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The women’s Institute Challenge begins on Sunday November 27 as leading players from across Australia converge on the AIS in Canberra to determine the best water polo state in the country.

Teams from the State Institutes and Academies from New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria will contest the tournament with spots in the Aussie Stingers team for vital Olympic lead up tournaments on the line.

Aussie Stinger’s head coach Greg McFadden said the concept is very beneficial at this time of the year heading towards the London 2012 preparation and he expects a lot of players to step up and impress.

“This is the only time the girls get to compete for their state so obviously there is a lot riding on it and there is a lot of bragging rights. The girls all show plenty of pride towards their state and want to do well,” McFadden said.

“There are only four teams in it, but they are all fairly tough teams and each team plays everyone twice, so the matches are very tough and it really shows who are the consistent players.

“Having to play six or seven games in five days is a big effort and the class usually shows up in those situations.”

Traditionally New South Wales and Queensland have been the front-runners in the competition’s six-year history with the two states sharing the spoils at three wins each.

Schedule

Sunday November 27: 17.30pm NSWIS v VIS, 18.45pm QAS v WAIS
Monday November 28: 8.30am VIS v WAIS, 9.45am QAS v NSWIS
Monday November 28: 17.30pm NSWIS v WAIS, 18.45pm QAS v VIS
Tuesday November 29: 17.30pm QAS v NSWIS, 6.45pm VIS v WAIS
Wednesday November 30: 17.30pm WAIS v NSWIS, 6.45pm QAS v VIS
Thursday December 1: 17.30pm QAS v WAIS, 6.45pm NSWIS v VIS
Friday December 2: 8.30am Bronze medal game, 10.15am Gold medal game

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Isobel Bishop: holding on to Olympic dream

November 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Isobel Bishop

According to Adelaide’s Isobel Bishop, the best thing about being part of the Aussie Stingers water polo team is the “great and wonderful girls you get to meet.”

“You always look forward to playing in this squad as everyone is so talented and so motivational,” the 20-year-old revealed.

Bishop, who is the sole South Australian in the team, joins fellow Australian 20 & Under representatives Kelsey Wakefield, Ashley Southern, Hannah Buckling and Zoe Arancini as the squad’s youngest members and credits the entire group for their amazing support.

“The drive of the Stingers is something I have never seen before, and to be part of it is pretty special,” she said.

“Gemma (Beadsworth) for example, is young, strong, happy and extremely talented and hardworking and already has so much experience so I could definitely take a lot of notes from her.”

With preparations for the 2012 London Olympics in top gear, Bishop is enjoying the added commitments of a team environment, namely the numerous AIS residential training camps, and says she is just amazed as to how her whole water polo career has taken to shape.

“I had an interesting and fairly quick move in water polo, firstly playing for school and then being picked up by a club affiliated with school all within a matter of weeks,” she reflected.

“From there I was sent to state tryouts for the U/14s and then my coach Lisa Callahan sent me to state U/16s tryouts, all at age 14.

“I then was selected for that, which was a huge surprise because I was extremely young and inexperienced and quite small at the time.”

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Intense gym work paints picture for Zagame’s Olympic preparations

October 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Nicola Zigame

It is common for athletes to seek shelter from the daily circus of elite sport by turning to a special talent or hidden interest that keeps them motivated and internally driven.

Many resort to study and the pursuit of a career to fill that void. Others find time to relax and just read a good book.

For Kirrawee’s Aussie Stingers water polo star Nicola Zagame, the world of paints and paintbrushes has been her escape.

A seven-week art class, including three hours of watercolour lessons a week has been the ideal way to break down the stresses of an Olympic campaign.

“I’ve always loved art, and I pushed back my university study to concentrate on training, so I decided to do the painting course to give me something to do,” the 21-year-old Zagame revealed.

“I did art for year 12 in the HSC and my major work was displayed in a local exhibition, and I’ve now continued the love as it is a good way to relax and get away from everything.”

Read more at Australian Water Polo.

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Stingers announce senior squad to prepare for 2012

September 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Melissa Rippon

Aussie Stingers coach Greg McFadden has announced a 19-member national senior women’s squad to begin preparing for the 2012 international season that will culminate in the London Olympic Games.

The players chosen will take part in two intense fortnight long training camps at the Australian Institute of Sport beginning on October 3 and October 31 before heading to Montreal in December for a training camp with the Canadian national team and the Canada Cup.

The squad will then host the Canadians in Melbourne in January prior to competing in the Pan Pacs, followed by another training camp, this time in Sydney with the USA.

The squad features five members of Australia’s bronze medal winning team from this month’s FINA World Junior Championships in Italy. Those five players – Zoe Arancini, Ash Southern, Kelsey Wakefield, Isobel Bishop and Hannah Buckling – will undergo a decreased training load at the first camp as they recover from an arduous month long world championships campaign.

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