Australia’s sportiest town got even sportier on Sunday when water polo made its way into the pool at Narrabri Aquatic Centre.
Former Lake Macquarie Dolphin and NSW water polo representative, Dean Clarke, has organised and will run weekly come and try sessions for the sport.
The first session last Sunday was attended by more than 35 people, and there were many more who wished to attend but could not to due to other commitments.
Clarke moved to Narrabri nine years ago from Glendale, near Newcastle, and he took up rugby league.
However, water polo was always his number one sport and at 33 years of age he became determined to get back in the pool.
He decided to head over and play in Tamworth before rethinking that and opting to seek interest to get the sport going in Narrabri.
There was plenty, and now Clarke is currently planning the formation of the Narrabri Dolphins Water Polo Club.
He will host come and try sessions each Sunday up until April 2 and then hopes to get a competition up and running next season from October.
He told The Courier that he enjoyed Sunday’s session, and he encouraged others to join in and give the sport a go.
“At our first session, we had enough people there to fill two teams in the under-14s and up,” he said.
“There was some really good natural talent there in the juniors too. I was very impressed.
“There will be a lot of people there this weekend that weren’t there last weekend.
“There were a lot of people who couldn’t make it because they were on holidays or working or something else.
“Everyone really enjoyed it.
“I turned my competitiveness down and tried to make it as fun as possible for everyone, not a standard water polo training session that I remember where you’d get out of the pool and could barely walk.
“I’d love to see it get to the point where there’s enough interest here to have at least four teams in men’s, four teams in women’s, four teams in both junior boys and junior girls, and then a mixed under-14s comp. I’d like to see it eventually get to that stage, but I think to start off it’ll be all mixed comps until it starts to build more interest.
“I hope that next season, at least in the adults, we are running a mixed competition with four teams in it.
“Water polo is a fun sport.
“The atmosphere we are trying to drive is a very social one.
“Anyone comfortable enough to keep their head above water, come down and have a go.”
From this Sunday, an 8-13-year-old session will run from midday for 45 minutes, and then a session for those aged 14-years and over will run for about 90 minutes from 1pm.
Clarke is in the process of planning to form the new Narrabri club, and will likely host a meeting to establish a committee in the coming weeks.
“After probably our third or fourth session, depending on numbers, I’m going to try and form the club, hold some sort of committee meeting,” he said.
“I’ve got plenty of people who want to help out already.”
Lauren Eather is one person who has already been a huge supporter of the sport and the new club, helping out with planning the first session and also taking part in it.
Clarke said that Tarsh Rutter from the Narrabri Aquatic Centre had also offered great support. She also took part in Sunday’s session.
When the club is eventually formed, it will affiliate with NSW Water Polo.
That will give Narrabri players the opportunity to travel interstate to play at larger tournaments and also try to play their way into representative teams.
Clark said that he chose to name the new water polo club in Narrabri the Dolphins as that name holds a special place in his heart.
He cherished his time as a member of the Lake Macquarie Dolphins, a club that has promised to help Clarke get the sport running in Narrabri as smoothly as possible.
“It was always my main sport,” he said of water polo.
“I was a Lake Macquarie Dolphin and I represented Newcastle, the Hunter Hurricanes, and the state.
“I played for about 16 years up until I moved out here. I gave rugby league a bit of a go but I’m a bit too old to be playing rugby league now.
“I still wanted to play a team sport, though, then one day after running around the block and my knees were killing me, I thought ‘I’m going to play water polo in Tamworth’.
“That night, I thought I might see what the interest is like here in town, and there was plenty.
“I rang my old club and they actually donated goals and caps and they got in contact with NSW Water Polo and they gave me a heap of balls.
“That’s a big part of why I’m naming the club the Narrabri Dolphins, that connection.
“I was a Dolphin for 16 years, and they are donating a lot of stuff here for us and they’d also like to organise a weekend to come out and run skills sessions and also host games for us.
“When I told them about my idea, I approached a few people I know there, like my old coach Shannon and my older brother who still plays for them, for some ideas because I’ve been out of the game for nine years.
“I know how to run sessions, but I’m better at teaching people that know the game to become better than I am teaching people from scratch.
“I was overwhelmed by the amount of help the Dolphins gave me.
“They said when we get our committee together, they’d organise us to get together in one spot and do a phone hookup to go through everything we need to know.
“The amount of support they are giving me is ridiculous.”
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