Olympian Kayes back home passing on his knowledge

Rio olimpian Joe Kayes (left) with Sam Jones, 14, and Jack Preston,14, (right) at water polo coaching clinic held at Baywave yesterday. Photo/George Novak

Joe Kayes made quite an impact standing poolside at Baywave yesterday.

The burly 26-year-old from Papamoa, without doubt the most successful water polo player produced in New Zealand, was back home to run a two-day coaching seminar with internationally ranked coaches Jim Floerchinger and Sefa Tuiasau.

Kayes represented Australia at the Rio Olympics where the powerful centre forward reaffirmed his status as one of the very best in the game.

In 2008 he represented New Zealand while still at Mount Maunganui College and moved to Australia two years ago to qualify for the Aussie Sharks, after five years competing in Hungary's acclaimed national league.

Kayes loved the opportunity to give back to the game where it all started for him at the Tauranga Water Polo club, set up by his father Paul.

"I hear about all the success that the club is having, and they are absolutely killing it, but I do come back sometimes and feel that some of the skills may not be as tip-top as they should be," Kayes said.

"I love to be able to come back and change things and camps like this are a perfect way for me to do it."

He said the biggest issue with growing the sport in New Zealand was retaining the talented young players who compete on the world stage at age-group level.

"There is still not a lot of retention going from the juniors to the senior level but the junior level is amazing. I heard from someone that there are more people playing water polo than rugby league in the country thanks to the junior side of it.

"The sport has grown hugely but has really struggled over the years. It is something we need to put some effort into if we are going to expand it and grow it across the country."

When Kayes left Mount Maunganui for Hungary he admitted he thought he knew it all.

But the reality was far different.

"When I arrived there was a comment from my coach, who was a three-time Olympic assistant coach, and he said 'we have got this amazing body - we have to turn it into a water polo player'," he said.

"I went to Hungary thinking I knew everything and I spent three months learning to pass and swim and shoot properly."

Floerchinger said everyone was excited to work with Kayes and learn from his experiences.

"If you do one repetition correctly, that is exactly what you need at a young age. It is first-hand information from someone who is scoring goals at the highest level we have got. He is a legitimate threat for every team that plays him."

One of the talented players lapping up the coaching advice yesterday was Justin Pickering, who has represented New Zealand for three years at junior level.

Last year he spent a month in Serbia under coach Floerchinger and in July he begins a water polo scholarship to San Jose State University in California.

Pickering said having one-on-one coaching with Kayes and the other two coaches was pretty special.

"Obviously Joe has been to the Olympics and played in Europe and everything, with all that experience he has got.

"He has passed on that knowledge and particularly the little technical things, and that is priceless stuff hard to get anywhere in the world."