Canberra Dolphins looking forward to national experience at KAP7 AYWPC

The Canberra Dolphins 18&U will relish the experience to play against teams from across the country when they head to Brisbane for the 2020 KAP7 Australian Youth Water Polo Championships which kick off tomorrow.

It has been 12 months since the team has had the opportunity to play against sides outside of the Canberra and coach Ryan McDermott said the boys are looking forward to being challenged again.

“The last time we played against a team that wasn’t from Canberra was in Brisbane last January, so the boys are looking forward to the opportunity,” McDermott said.

“It will be good to play against teams from other States and see where we are at,” he said.

The bushfires engulfing Australia has seen Canberra one of the worst hit in terms of air quality, with McDermott saying they have had to cancel training sessions.

“We’ve had to cancel a few sessions because of the smoke and the fires in southern New South Wales… but other than that it’s been a pretty good preparation,” he said.

McDermott said that the focus for the side at the 2020 KAP7 Australian Youth Water Polo Championships will be to gain experience for their younger players.

“We are a young team, so we are trying to give them as much game experience as we can.

“We want them to stay involved in the game so we have put in our best efforts to ensure that all the boys could travel to Brisbane,” he said.

The Canberra Dolphins had 20 players eligible for the KAP7 AYWPC so have joined forces with Brisbane based club the Barracudas so that they could enter a second team.

“The team will be coached by former Olympic coach Don Cameron and it’ll be a great chance for the boys to learn from his experiences,” McDermott said.

“We’ve tried to have a pretty comprehensive preparation, and the boys are all in good form.”

The 2020 KAP7 AYWPC are set to kick off tomorrow, Saturday 11 January, with the 14&U and 18&U divisions, followed by 12&U and 16&U in week two of the championships.

The Aussie Stingers and KAP7 Aussie Sharks will face the USA in a three test match series at Brisbane Aquatic Centre on 14, 16 and 18 January.

Tickets are selling fast, but are available at https://bit.ly/AUSvUSAtix

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