This month, we get to know long-time club member Sasha Tindall. Sasha has been part of the club since her U12 days and has progressed through the age groups into our Hammerheads team.

She was also a key member of the Rangitoto Premier Girls team that claimed silver at the NZSS Championships this year, and has recently been selected for the New Zealand U18 Women’s team to compete at the World Championships later this year. Hear from Sasha below…

Full Name: Sasha Tindall

How long have you been playing water polo? 

Since I was 9

What made you take up the sport? 

I came along to U12 trials after my Dad suggested I should give water polo a go after playing flipper ball for a few years. After that first year of super fun tournaments and a great team I knew I wanted to continue playing the next year, and that just continued. 

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

The most challenging thing about water polo for me is probably balancing so many training sessions with school. It gets quite tiring especially during the term time where there are heaps of assessments at the same time we have to be training super hard to prepare for games/tournaments. 

In terms of the sport itself, the most challenging thing for me was learning to switch my mindset after making mistakes. It was hard to learn that if I did something wrong, that it was totally okay and it's all about getting better and improving. Luckily I had great coaches and team mates to help teach me new skills and help me improve my water polo ability - which then helped me get past overthinking my mistakes. 

The other most challenging part of water polo is Peter’s conditioning pool session every Monday night… 

What is the highlight of your playing career so far? 

I have a few highlights of my playing career so far, one would definitely be my overall time playing Premier water polo for Rangitoto College. Those years were some of the best of my life because I learned so much from my Coaches and older team mates, I also gained experience playing with/against some of the best school girls in NZ, it was cool to see how I progressed working my way up from a tiny year 10 who was scared to play even 1 minute - to this year where I learned how to step up and be a captain to guide my team as a leader. 

Another highlight would be the first time we stood up and sang the National Anthem before our first game against the USA at the U16 World Champs in Turkey. I remember standing up with my team in the NZ robes and feeling super proud to represent NZ internationally, that tournament taught me a lot about myself as a player. 

My last highlight would be playing in the U18 National final last year against Atlantis in Hawke’s Bay. That tournament I just had so much fun and it was really cool to play at such a high level with my best friends, and I think we played really well that year.

What would your advice be to younger players who have just started or looking to push themselves to the next level?

For kids who have just started playing, I think focusing on the basics - simple stuff like mastering egg beater, attendance at swimming, positive mindset, and being able to pick up the ball and make a pass will be so beneficial toward taking those first steps to understanding how to play. Also watching senior games would 100% help the younger kids understand how water polo works so I think that would help a lot. 

For players wanting to push themselves I think take it one training at a time, and really listen to what your older team mates have to teach you - because they have so much experience and playing with them will help advance your skills but also make you feel super motivated to strive for improvement. 

You’ve been selected for the WPNZ U18 Women’s team heading to World Champs in August—how exciting! What are you most looking forward to on this trip? 

I’m most looking forward to gaining more international experience playing against the best of my age in the world. I want to try to learn from them too. I’m also just super excited to travel to Spain with some of my best friends and play as a team together - we have a lot to learn on the way and I think scrimmaging with some of the teams beforehand will be really fun as well as beneficial to prepare us for the tournament. 

Do you have a Water Polo ‘idol’ you look up to? Who is this and why?

My water polo idol is definitely my bestie Gabby Doyle!!!! She was in my school Prems team for my first 2 years in Csquad, and she is my idol because she is not only such an amazing player who I aspire to be like one day, but she’s also such a kind and funny person. She is 2 years older than me, and she made me feel so included at Prems when I first started. She’s like my big sister. Playing with her really inspired me to strive for improvement because she is such a great player. Even now I get to play with her when she comes back from the States for our North Harbour Hammies team - and seeing how much she has improved each time she comes back is so cool to me, I love playing and learning from her.

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

I’m not exactly sure what I want to do after school yet in terms of where I want to go, but I definitely see myself still playing water polo. I’d love to continue playing for NZ and for Hammies, and maybe at university too. I’d like to be a key player in the Hammies team one day, playing in the important minutes and winning National titles, hopefully. Also continuing to play for NZ would be such a great experience too.

Quick Fire Round

Summer or Winter? 

Summer 100%

If you could be an animal, what would it be? 

Whale shark

Early riser or night owl? 

Early riser

Favourite song at the moment? 

Can’t pick a fav!!

Favourite Movie/TV Show? 

The Rookie