Portable fields bring water polo to one of Australia's most beautiful beaches

A bevy of bikini and speedo-clad water polo players joined the wildlife at Jervis Bay in Australia on the weekend for the first major Beach Water Polo Fours tournament of the summer season.

The event was held during the popular Sand and Sea Festival, with players competing on a portable water polo field supplied by Packaworld International. It saw mixed teams from New South Wales do battle in fast-paced day of four-a-side water polo action.

Beach Water Polo Fours spokesperson Emma Brown said the tournament went perfectly despite high winds in the area causing some of the other Sand and Sea Festival multisport events to be cancelled.

"The westerly wind was absolutely crazy, but Huskisson Beach where our tournament was held wasn’t affected at all."

“While other events on the day including kite surfing and outrigging got cancelled, our players could barely feel a breeze in the fields.”

BYO Attitude took the tournament honours after a nail-biting penalty shootout victory over rivals CW Jets in the final. Ms Brown said one of the highlights of the event was the involvement of dual Olympian and 2008 water polo bronze medallist, Nikita Williams, who played for CW Jets throughout the day.

“The famous white-sand beaches and clear turquoise waters of Jervis Bay were unlike anything we have ever seen. We have never taken Beach Water Polo Fours to New South Wales’ south coast, so we were really excited to be a part of such an amazing event,” Ms Brown said.

The Jervis Bay location, 2.5 hours south of Sydney, meant bringing water polo to the festival was always going to be slightly challenging logistically, she said.

“It’s a dream setting from a playing perspective but organisers in the past may have struggled to make it happen because of the difficulty transporting gear and setting up the playing area. We were in a unique position to make it possible because of the portable water polo fields and goals we use for our events. As usual, they were amazing.”

Packaworld Chief Executive Peter Roberts said it was fantastic to see the portable water polo fields and Packagoals making new events possible. He was also pleased to see Packaworld’s new Packanet solution in action during the event to provide additional rigidity to the field in the conditions and a back net to catch balls after wayward shots at goal.

“Events like this are what we dream about when designing new sports solutions. They perfectly illustrate how highly portable goals and sports equipment can make it possible to bring the joy of sport with you, whenever and wherever you want.”

Ms Brown said Beach Water Polo Fours was planning a full summer season of water polo events at New South Wales Beaches. As many as five major events will be held this season, between October and March.

For more information about Packaworld’s high-quality inflatable water polo goals, fields and back nets visit our water polo product page >>