November Player Profile of the Month - Gemma O'Brien

Gemma is a current member of the U14 Girls Maroon Team who have just begun their U14 season. She also attends Rangitoto College where she plays in their Junior Girls Team and was a member of our U16 Black Team.

How long have you been playing water polo?

I started playing water polo in Year 7, I am now Year 9.

What made you take up the sport?

In Year 6 I started playing flippa ball and I really enjoyed it. When it finished I wanted to carry on playing so I joined waterpolo at North Harbour.

What do you think is the most challenging part of the sport?

Sometimes it’s hard to get enough sleep when you’re training early in the morning and late at night too. By the end of the week I’m usually pretty tired!

What is the most rewarding part of the sport for you?

I love it when something that you’ve been practicing in training finally works for you in a game. You can see what you have been doing in training is paying off and it feels very rewarding.

If you’re not at the pool with Water Polo what are you doing in your spare time?

I really enjoy some rest! I also enjoy spending time at the beach at Muriwai where I live - I do surf life saving and also like to go surfing.

You’ve just started your U14 season, what are you most looking forward to with this team?

I’m looking forward to playing with a team full of my friends and also seeing our team improve over our season. I’m especially looking forward to nationals in Wellington at the end of the season. It will be my first U14 nationals with the club since everything got cancelled last year.

What’s your advice to young players looking to take up the sport?

Definitely give it a go, and if something seems hard keep trying at it because eventually you will get it and when you do it will feel really good. I started later than most of my friends and had some catching up to do, but it was worth the work to get there.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time in terms of Water Polo?

I would love to play for the Hammerheads and for the New Zealand team sometime in my future.

Article added: Tuesday 01 November 2022