The 2017 Under-14 Boys’ State Championship kicked off with a bang on Monday and Water Polo NSW chief executive officer and tournament director Dave Whittaker predicted an epic tournament to unfold at Orange Aquatic Centre this week.
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The state’s best and brightest for the 17 teams doing battle across two divisions in what is the second consecutive year Orange has welcomed a state tournament, after last year’s gangbusters under-16 girls’ equivalent.
While Whittaker said it was too early to tell which of the outfits could be considered title contenders, he did highlight a couple that started their campaigns well.
“For a few teams, as per the seedings, it’s gone to plan so far,” he said.
“Cronulla and Sydney University both have multiple teams here and their [division one] sides are probably among the top teams.
“From a regional perspective Tamworth, from what I saw, had done well in [division two] as well, but it probably is a bit early to tell just yet.
“It was an excellent start, all the teams are up for it and there’s been some close competition.”
Returning to Orange, and the central west, is part of Water Polo NSW’s continued move to branch further into regional areas, development of the sport in the country is one of the organisation’s top priorities.
Dubbo is hosting the girls’ corresponding tournament this week, while Bathurst hosted the under-16 boys’ championship last week.
The move has clearly made an impact in the colour city too, Orange’s own senior and junior competitions kicked off this summer and are thriving. The former league has also welcomed a former Olympian into its playing ranks in Nikita Williams.
“It’s first-class here,” Whittaker said, heaping praise on the Orange facility, in particular the newly-installed scoreboard.
“We were up here last year for the under-16 girls’ tournament, that was the first time we’d been to the central west and the facilities were great.
“But now we’ve got the big scoreboard here as well, it’s just fantastic.”
On top of the championship Water Polo NSW, in conjunction with Macquarie Sports, will also be holding a come and try clinic on Wednesday morning, from 9am.
It will be run by former Olympian Liz Weekes, along with current Australian star Anthony Hrysanthos and former national women’s coach Greg McFadden.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
