CAIRNS MAKES A SPLASH
COVID nearly put a stop to the Queensland Water Polo Country Championship, but the event has gone ahead with the Far North front and centre in the pool.
Cairns Water Polo president Jarred Heiser, who has only been in the job for a month, said there’d been a couple of Covid scares within the club as well as participating clubs from across the state.
“We thought we were going to have a little outbreak – we experienced it pretty much right up to Friday, with people still not playing,” he said. “We had a scare where we might not have been able to put up a team, but it’s the same with others.
“Mackay and the Gold Coast who are represented by one team – usually they have 200 people playing.”
The newly minted president has breathed a sigh of relief at being able to put on the competition.
Heiser has been part of Cairns Water Polo for two years; serving in the navy, he represented Australia in the ADF water polo team overseas.
Upon his stationing in the Far North, he decided to join a “civilian” team – Cairns Water Polo.
A couple of years later, and Heiser finds himself heading up the continuously growing social group.
“I’m injured and a bit old myself, so it was my way of stepping up and keeping involved in the club,” he said.
“It’s keeping me busy and close to the game which is good.”
With matches and practices being held at picturesque tropical locations such as Malanda Falls and Lake Barrine, Heiser said there’s been plenty of eager messages from people wanting to return to the pool to play.
He added that teams from elsewhere in the country have seen the tropical backdrops to Cairns Water Polo’s games, keen to visit the sites themselves for a game or two.
“People from cities all the way to Victoria and NSW have seen our social media posts and expressed interest to come,” Heiser said.
“We aren’t opening it up as of yet, but hopefully the goal is in a few years clubs from around Australia will be willing to come.”
In spite of the pandemic, about 140
competitors from Rockhampton, Toowoomba, Mackay, Townsville as well as the Sunshine and Gold Coasts have converged on the Tobruk Memorial Pool for the state tournament.
While Cairns’ two men’s and solitary women’s teams have experienced a few losses on the first day of the tournament, Heiser said participation was a major highlight.
“We actually couldn’t fit a few talented juniors in the teams,” he said.
“When you’re actually turning
away people – maybe they can play next time – it shows where our strength is in numbers.”
News Corp has partnered with Water Polo Queensland to livestream the final day of the Queensland Country Championships.
Matches will run from 10am on Sunday, featuring teams from Cairns, the Gold Coast, Townsville, the Sunshine Coast and Rockhampton.
You will need a News Corp subscription to watch the live streams.