ORD MINNETT AUSSIE STINGERS FIRST OLYMPIC RESIDENTIAL CAMP AT AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF SPORT

Published Wed 06 Mar 2024

After a short break following the 2024 World Aquatics Championships, the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers have arrived in Canberra at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) for the first of their Olympic residential camp.

A 21-woman squad has been selected for the ‘live in’ camp at the AIS, the first of three residential camps in the build up to Paris 2024.

Recently returning from the World Championships in Doha, Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers Head Coach Bec Rippon said they have now had an opportunity to reflect on the campaign which helped them to set the focus for the residential camp.

“As Head Coach at a World Championships, it was a new role so there were a lot of personal learnings,” Rippon said.

“And for the team, even though some of the players had been at a World Championships before, we had a few debutants as well. I think the biggest learning was identifying what this group needs, what do we need to work together and identifying what our key strengths are.

“The scores at the end show some really close games, but the games themselves tell different stories. There were some tight quarters, and then there were some quarters where we were really dominant, and then there were some where we weren't so dominant.

“The story behind them is that there is a lot of good stuff happening in the team, it’s just not as consistent as we’d like at the moment, and we need to really work on that.

“We appreciated having that World Championships, as we don’t get a lot of international games, and to have a competition that’s not the Olympics but goes pretty close to replicating that experience .

“It was important for us to see how the team works together, how the coaching staff work together and how the whole performance support team work together in that kind of environment,” she said.

With almost a month ahead of them at the AIS, Rippon said the first camp will help to lay a strong physical base for the months of preparation ahead.

“The first camp in Canberra is a real physical preparation camp. We want to get a really good physical base that we can then keep working with and working through until the Olympics,” she said.

“At the same time, we’re going to be doing a lot of skill development in some areas where we think we can make some big improvements. And then obviously we need to work on our team tactics and style of play, but to be able to do that we need the physical and technical to go with that.

“There’s a lot of components to it, and it’s definitely going to be a heavy, physical camp,” she said.

The 21-strong Olympic squad will come back together, after only a squad of 15 travelled to Doha for the World Championships.

“I’m looking forward to bringing the big group back together. The girls who weren’t at the World Championships have been training in their home bases and playing in the national league, so I’m excited to see where they are at,” Rippon said.

“The thing I love about bringing a big group together is the competition that it brings - you don’t want to just make the team by being just good enough, you want there to be really difficult decisions at the selection time.

“I’m excited to see them all battle to make the team better, to train at the level that we need and to turn up every day at the level that we need. At the end, there will be some difficult decisions, but if they’re all there pushing each other, that’s the environment that we want,” she said.

ORD MINNETT AUSSIE STINGERS OLYMPIC SQUAD

Abby Andrews (QLD)

Charlize Andrews (QLD)

Zoe Arancini (WA/NSW)

Elle Armit (QLD)

Hayley Ballesty (NSW)

Claire Durston (WA/NSW)

Tenealle Fasala (QLD)

Keesja Gofers (NSW)

Sienna Green (NSW)

Bronte Halligan (NSW)

Sienna Hearn (NSW)