Bay of Plenty looks to have designs on becoming a national powerhouse in water polo with the naming of a raft of junior players in national squads.
Five players from Mount Maunganui College have been named in two under-15 girls teams to compete in Australia in late-June and early-July, taking the number of national squad members in the region to well over a dozen.
With 27 players picked in the under-15 squads - which have been enlarged to keep players motivated for the world under-18 championships to be held in 2016 - it means the college, and the region, are hugely over-represented. Georgia Reardon-Nikara and Julia Kayes have been selected to travel to Brisbane to compete in the Trans Tasman Challenge Series from June 30 - July 5, while Caitlin Lyttle, goalie Alisha Winstanley and Malia Josephson will head to Canberra for the Youth World Games beginning July 5.
The five girls were among the youngest to compete in the senior girls secondary school water polo nationals last year, and were in the Tauranga under-14 girls team that finished second at the nationals.
It is the first time the girls have made a national squad.
They put their success down to surf lifesaving producing a number of quality swimmers and great coaching at school and club level from Rob Parkes, Karl Josephson and Paul Kayes, as well as the tireless work of Wendy Dobbs.
Tauranga Water Polo Club chairman Kent Fenneman is thrilled to have such a large percentage of the national squad consisting of players from the Tauranga area.
"I'm hugely proud of these kids," said Fenneman.
"They're fantastic athletes - a lot of people who have never played water polo or haven't seen the game won't understand the physical demands of the sport and what's required."
He praised Mount Maunganui College for their part in promoting the sport and said the local scene is one of the strongest in the country. "The college has put a lot of effort into the sport in the last few years and have had players who have also gone on to New Zealand teams.
"From the club point of view we've probably got another six older kids who are already in New Zealand teams, plus we are likely to get another four or five boys in the under-15 team that hasn't been announced yet, so we're looking at between 15-16 New Zealand representatives just coming out of the one club."
Fenneman said local competitions are getting so big that the intermediate competition is run over two nights, with the secondary school competition holding the tag as the second largest in the country.