Aussie Stingers play water polo exhibition match on Great Barrier Reef

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef became the stage for a world-first water polo event on Sunday, when members of the Australian women’s water polo team took to its warm tropical waters for a one-of-a-kind exhibition match.

The match was organised by Cairns Water Polo Club and Sunlover Reef Cruises, with special permission from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. It was played 47 km offshore alongside the Moore Reef Marine Base using a portable Packaworld water polo field and Water Polo Packagoals.

“It was a pretty spectacular day,” says Cairns Water Polo president Jesse O’Hara.

“The blue and green colours were just shining through the water, the reef was looking great and there were plenty of fish around.”

Mr O-Hara said the event aimed to showcase water polo and raise awareness of the beauty and marine life of the Great Barrier Reef. More than 250 people boarded a Sunlover Reef Cruises catamaran and travelled for 1.5 hours to watch the match between members of the Aussie Stingers squad in a section of the reef designated for deep water activities. Members of the Australian Junior 16-and-under boys’ team also made the trip and played a match in the spectacular reef surrounds.

Packaworld Chief Executive Peter Roberts said the Great Barrier Reef was one of the most spectacular venues he had heard of for a beach water polo event.

“The Great Barrier Reef is an absolutely breathtaking location. Events like this are what our products are all about; allowing people to play the sports they love, wherever and whenever they want, and making the impossible possible.”

Mr O’Hara said beach water polo was a fast-growing format and FINA was trialling it at the upcoming World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, later this month.

The warm tropical waters around Cairns made it an ideal location to play beach water polo, particularly during the winter months, he said.

“Winter is actually the best time of year to play here because there are a lot of marine stingers [jellyfish] in the ocean during summer. We tend to play our outdoor beach water polo in freshwater lakes in the summer months.”

The Cairns Water Polo Club hoped to use Packaworld inflatable water polo courts and goals to host a repeat event in 2020, either in the outer reef, or possibly in the more sheltered surrounds of Green Island or Fitzroy Island, he said.

Packaworld portable water polo fields and professional inflatable water polo goals float on the water, are easy to anchor, and can be deflated and packed down for easy transportation and storage.

The Great Barrier Reef is one of Australia’s natural wonders. It is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres.

For more information about Packaworld water polo fields and goals, visit our water polo product page>>

VIDEO: Beach water polo on the Great Barrier Reef