Title the reward as hard work pays off

EVEN after an undefeated run to a Queensland championship, Kai Smith needed time to get over his fatigue before elation could kick in.

But as the Townsville Tiger Sharks underwater hockey skipper helped secure the state’s junior title, he looked around at his team and saw they too could not have given any more.

A gritty 1-0 victory over Brisbane secured the championship for the young North Queensland side last week, with teammate Mary-anne van der Merwe – who travels from Ayr to Townsville just to train – recognised as the competition’s most valuable player.

Smith said five of their six junior players also took on the senior B-grade tournament.

Instead of playing four games a day like their rivals, they played eight.

Smith and his team could not be denied. “Being undefeated was just amazing, considering we’re playing eight games a day compared to the other teams playing four; to still keep up after being tired at the end of the day and win those last games I think was just incredible,” Smith said.

“The team was able to push through that well and play to a standard that is still acceptable within our team, even after being tired and playing their hardest all day.

“We were really tired after every day. Playing B-grade games we were a little bit small for that, and I think the size definitely beat us there. But for juniors, having that experience of playing with the adults was really what helped us win.

“Our fitness level is incredible, and I think that’s because we also play with the seniors.

“After the win it didn’t really kick in for a couple of minutes after the game.

“We ended up defending for about four or five minutes straight on our goal at the end of the grand final.

“Hearing that buzzer go was a big sigh of relief; everyone went over to the side of the pool to take in as much oxygen as they could.

“It was pretty surprising we were able to keep up the whole competition and still be able to come out on top; our celebration was definitely pretty big.”