Latest news with #WhiteCaps
Newsroom
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Newsroom
Sailing greats steer water polo towards LA
Tightly tucked behind a café at the Sir Owen G Glenn National Aquatic Centre is the understated home of water polo in New Zealand. Blink and you miss it. But behind the hard-to-find front door on Auckland's North Shore, there's a hive of activity powered by some serious sporting pedigree – including three Kiwi women who've won Olympic medals on top of the water, not in it. Sailors, who are leading the charge to make Olympic water polo history. Jan Shearer, Olympic silver medallist in the 470 dinghy at Barcelona 1992, is now the CEO of Water Polo NZ. Polly Powrie, who won 470 gold and silver in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics, is their high performance manager. And Barbara Kendall, boardsailing's Olympic triple medallist, is the performance coach of the White Caps – the new moniker for the New Zealand women's water polo team. Right now, Powrie is in Singapore with the side, who take on Italy in their opening game of the world championships on Friday night. Kendall, who's been in Denmark watching her windfoiling daughter Aimee Bright finish 15th in the iQFOIL world championships, will join the team this weekend. Shearer is minding the fort at home. Of the three, only Powrie has ever played water polo before – a brief dabble back in high school. Both Kendall's daughters played the sport, with the eldest, Samantha, taking up a college scholarship in water polo in the US. But the three women believe they bring a wide-ranging skillset from their sailing days – from travelling the world on little-to-no funding, to staying calm under pressure and unwavering self-belief. 'It's the belief that it's possible, to every day keep working towards your goal and you'll get there,' Shearer says. 'There's no silver bullet or magic wand. 'The goal right now is to make it to the Los Angeles Olympics and that would be a huge milestone for this sport. If you're a sailor, an Olympic medal would be the goal. But for water polo right now, just getting there is our first target.' Jan Shearer (right) and Leslie Egnot with their 1992 Olympic silver medals in the 470. Photo: supplied These world champs are the start of the White Caps' mission to make history. No New Zealand team – women or men – has ever played at an Olympics. The women came within two goals of qualifying for the Paris Games, but their chances have been boosted for Los Angeles, with the women's field increased from 10 to 12 nations – a tick for equality with the men. As the New Zealand team's long-time head coach, Angie Winstanley-Smith, puts it, the expansion could be a game-changer for women's water polo here. 'We were effectively the 11th-ranked team for Paris. This will hopefully inspire not only our current squad members but also the next generation to keep pushing, keep believing,' she says. These world championships are the first step. Five-time Olympian Kendall was brought on board by her old sailing team-mate Shearer, after offering to help with the White Caps players. 'It was primarily to help the girls in pressure situations, managing their anxiety and nerves, because it was all new to them,' Shearer says. Barbara Kendall was recognised as an Olympian for Life in Paris last year. Photo: supplied Once Kendall ended her hugely successful sailing career, the IOC member forged a new vocation empowering athletes. 'It's about knowing what the level of tension needs to be so you can lift, but not over the top so everyone stays calm and focused,' Kendall says. 'It's about keeping an eye on communications, fatigue, food, sleep, hydration, mindsets, team dynamics and all the wobbles that happen when everyone is under pressure. 'I tell them lots of stories – most of them funny – about my days competing, and I try to keep it real. High performance sport is so intense, and these girls have dedicated years to this sport, living overseas playing in professional leagues – making around 8000 euros a year – with a dream of maybe making the Olympics one day. It's a huge sacrifice. 'They get to a certain age and say 'Well, is this really worth it?' And if they can make it to the Olympics, well then it is worth it.' Kendall sees it as a privilege she's now part of a team sport 'where every person counts'. 'In an individual sport like boardsailing, there's only one of you in the field of play, so the results hang on you. So it's nice to work with a team of girls who are all on the same mission,' she says. 'I didn't really have that, there weren't a lot of girls around. 'It's also a privilege to be a mentor to these young women and feel they can approach me and talk to me about anything. You do it to make a difference, to influence these girls' lives for the positive. And I know Jan and Polly feel exactly the same.' Shearer was the first to join Water Polo NZ in 2021. After 20 years as a mechanical design engineer – and sailor – she switched to sports administration, working as CEO of Snow Sports NZ and serving as chair of Canoe Racing NZ. 'When I came into water polo, the organisation was probably three or four months from going bust. There were some challenging things that needed to be done – a reduction in staff, shutting down contracts, leaving our premises; paring it right back,' she says. But things looked up when High Performance Sport NZ introduced its Aspirational Fund in 2022 to broaden the sports it invested in, and water polo suddenly received $85,000 a year. 'It was a small amount of money but an acknowledgment that water polo could do something. It kickstarted our journey with the women's team,' Shearer says. Polly Powrie (left) and Jo Aleh on their way to silver at the Rio Olympics. The sport then took the opportunity to employ a young female leader through the HSPNZ residency programme, and Powrie – who'd been operations manager at Canoe Racing NZ – joined the team. 'I was keen to get back into sports admin after the birth of my second daughter,' says Powrie, who also managed Team New Zealand's crew in the Women's America's Cup last year. 'I'd heard about the residency programme and thought this role could be a good opportunity to experience and learn from a team sport. 'It's been interesting to try to apply my experiences of high performance sport into the water polo context and the complexity of team sports.' Her experience as a high performance athlete was what water polo desperately needed, Shearer says. 'When you've got a sport that's quite immature in the performance space, you can't just drop in a high performance programme because there's so much to it. It's a 10-year journey to build a programme like this. 'We had some athletes playing overseas in college and for European clubs, who've been exposed to the high performance daily training environment. But the rest haven't. 'We're never going to have that kind of daily training environment year round, because we don't have the pool space in New Zealand; we don't have the depth of coaches or enough funding. It's not only difficult to implement, but also to educate and explain when the sport's never been at that level. 'So bringing in someone like Polly, and then Barbara, has been amazing.' The White Caps have also benefitted from the high performance knowledge of Dutch men's Olympian, Eelco Uri, who's in Singapore as the New Zealand team's assistant coach; and the athletes' voice leader, Frankie Snell, a Kiwi who played water polo for Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics. For many years, Angie Winstanley-Smith has been one of the only female coaches at the water polo world championships. Winstanley-Smith was also a British Olympian in London, who played professional water polo in Europe, before moving to New Zealand. She took up the role as the women's national coach in 2017, and the team has climbed up the world rankings ever since. But it's only in the last four years she's been contracted by Water Polo NZ – all while holding down the role of director of sport at Diocesan School for Girls. 'We've been so fortunate to have Angie, who's passion is unrelenting, who's driven and has the commitment and the knowledge of what it takes to be one of the top teams in the world,' Shearer says. 'We've all worked together to build this programme, but it wouldn't exist if it wasn't for her.' In a sport that's traditionally male-dominated, two women are now at the forefront of Water Polo NZ's board of directors. Alex Howieson, an experienced corporate and governance leader, is the board chair and her deputy is Megan Thompson, a former White Cap who's been Winstanley-Smith's assistant coach. The White Caps have a blend of experienced players like captain and goalkeeper Jessica Milicich, who's been in the squad for nine years and Morgan McDowall, who was the top goalscorer of the 16 nations at last year's world championships, as well as newcomers like Holly Dunn, a freshman at the University of California, Berkley. In the past few weeks, they played tournaments in Hungary and France before arriving in Singapore. Kendall was with the White Caps at the world championships in Doha last year, where they finished ninth (missing a spot in the quarterfinals after losing to Canada 14-12 cost them a ticket to Paris). 'In Doha, we had big dreams, but we just weren't good enough,' she says. 'We didn't have the depth that was needed to be firing for a whole game. And now we do. So it's up to the girls now, really.'
NZ Herald
04-07-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Why Barbara Kendall backs women's Olympic water polo campaign
By Bridget Tunnicliffe of RNZ Five-time Olympian Barbara Kendall has thrown her weight behind the New Zealand women's water polo team in their bid to qualify for the next Olympic Games. The White Caps believe they have a golden opportunity to qualify for Los Angeles 2028, with the Olympic quota
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Rising Tigers Prospect Max Clark Turns Heads With Incredible Power Display at West Michigan Game
Rising Tigers Prospect Max Clark Turns Heads With Incredible Power Display at West Michigan Game originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Detroit Tigers' farm system has shown plenty of signs of encouragement this season in lockstep with The Big League club as top prospects Kevin McGonigle, Max Clark and Josue Briceño were recently named the 2025 MLB Futures Game. Advertisement The Tigers trio is paced by McGonigle, who ranks number seven among all prospects in MLB, Clark, who ranks 12th, and Briceño, who ranks 58th. On Tuesday, Clark turned heads with a Herculean home run that landed in a surprising place as the West Michigan White Caps battled the Great Lakes Loons on the baseball diamond. Max Clark during 2024 Tigers Spring Training in Lakeland, Florida. © Junfu Han / Detroit Free Press / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images "Max Clark smokes one onto the lawn," the White Caps' social media account wrote. The highlight clip shows a towering fly ball drilled to right field landing on the green grass as Clark rounded the bases. The home run was his only hit of the day but it showcased the frightening power possessed by the current .275 White Caps hitter, who plays center field. Advertisement "Love it but was that a grown man who just smacked that young kid going for the ball?" one fan wrote. The White Caps lost 14-9 after the Loons put up 9 runs in the sixth inning. Clark will have a chance to show the MLB world what he can do on July 12 at 4 p.m. ET during the Futures Game, a growing tradition that has become a favorite among ardent fans of professional baseball. The game will be simulcast on MLB TV and the MLB app. Related: Tigers Starter Jack Flaherty's Cryptic Message Turns Heads Amid Nationals Game Rainout This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 2, 2025, where it first appeared.
RNZ News
03-07-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Why Barbara Kendall backs women's Olympic water polo campaign
In 2015, Barbara Kendall received the Sport NZ Leadership Award at the Halberg Awards. Photo: Photosport Ltd 2015 Five-time Olympian Barbara Kendall has thrown her weight behind the New Zealand women's water polo team in their bid to qualify for the next Games. The 'White Caps' believe they have a golden opportunity to qualify for Los Angeles 2028, with the Olympic quota for women's water polo increasing from 10 teams to 12. The team narrowly missed out on Paris 2024, falling just two goals short of Olympic qualification. Women's water polo was only added to the Olympics in 2000, with men's water polo on the programme since 1900. No New Zealand team have ever qualified for the Olympics in the sport. Kendall competed at five Olympic Games, winning gold, silver and bronze medals in windsurfing. She is now the White Caps performance coach and was introduced to water polo through her two daughters. "They started playing at school and just loved it," she said. "There was no-one at the school really managing it, so I just stepped in and ended up managing water polo for Whangaparāoa College, right up until both of them finished. "I didn't really know much about it, but I knew how to put a team together." Eldest daughter Samantha later joined the Atlantis City club in Auckland, where Kendall met White Caps head coach Angie Winstanley-Smith. "What she was trying to achieve was a big dream with very little resource to try and get a team to the Olympic Games in Paris," Kendall said. "There was no money, so it was pretty much a voluntary role, just building a plan and it's taken a long time. "She was, like, 'Barbara, we'd love to have you on the team just supporting' and I went, 'Yep'." NZ women's water polo team - the White Caps. Photo: Catharyn Hayne Photography NZ Water Polo chief executive Jan Shearer competed at three Olympics in sailing, winning a silver medal with Leslie Egnot at Barcelona 1992. Olympian Polly Powrie joined the White Caps a couple of years ago as team manager. Powrie is a two-time Olympic medallist, winning gold at London 2012 and silver at Rio 2016, alongside teammate Jo Aleh in the women's 470 sailing class. England-born Winstanley-Smith represented Great Britain for 11 years, including the 2012 London Olympics, before retiring in 2014 and moving to New Zealand. "Angie is an outstanding individual," Kendall said. "Most people wouldn't dedicate their life to it, it's a real life calling. "Then, when Jan became CEO, it was, like, 'Right, I'm in', because Jan's an amazing operator, and then Polly joining as well. When you have really good operators in behind a good coach, who knows what can happen, so that was why I joined." Kendall knows what it's like to prepare for Olympic qualification, but that's brand new territory for the White Caps squad members. Some have spent time playing in the American college system on scholarships, some are coming from club level. "Taking them from that level to actually what's required when you step up into high performance systems is quite a big jump and some people don't make it, because it's relentless, it's 24/7. "It's meticulous and so many boxes need to be ticked to ensure that you are operating under a high performance energy stream. It's tiring and it's really hard." Kendall enjoys working within a team sport. "What a privilege to work with a group of female athletes striving to be their very best," she said. "The dynamics are quite different, because you can have one person off and it can affect the whole team. "They learn to understand their teammates, and what stresses them or what motivates them. They have to be able to adapt and have empathy. "All those things you learn from a team sport, which you probably don't learn from an individual sport, because it's all about you, but in a team sport, you've got to look outside yourself a lot more." The NZ women's water polo team at a training base in Auckland. Photo: Supplied Kendall said she had a "million stories" she could share about the realities of high performance sport, "based on everything I learnt in 25 years of travelling overseas, sleeping in cars, little support". "When you get to the end of it, you may not qualify for the Olympic Games," she said. "You may not win a medal, but what you have learnt that has made you you, that's priceless ...and that's where I come in." Kendall's philosophy is to grow the person, then the athlete will flourish. "In high performance sport, you go into pressure cooker situations and all your fears surface, so it's how you embrace them and learn through them. It can be a really tough journey, so understanding that is actually when the most growth occurs, and you are much stronger and resilient from those times." The White Caps are currently on the road, gaining valuable experience in Europe against the world's top teams, before heading to the world aquatics championships in Singapore. Kendall will rejoin the team there, after a quick detour to watch daughter Aimee Bright compete at the 2025 iQFOiL world championships in Denmark. Bright is one of New Zealand's top young windfoilers, a newer evolution of windsurfing. New Zealand sailors Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie (right) at the Olympics. Photo: PHOTOSPORT Winstanley-Smith, who started coaching the team in 2017, appreciates that she has now got a management team stacked with Olympic experience. One of her assistant coaches is Eelco Uri, a former Dutch player, who competed at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics with the Netherlands men's team. Winstanley-Smith said of Kendall: "Anyone who meets Barbara, it's impossible not to feel energised. "She's been to five Olympics, she works with the IOC. Ultimately, what she brings is, 'Yes, this is high performance, but it's fun, we choose to be here'," she said. "She challenges the environment, and gets us to look at each other as people and how we can connect, and how everyone is different and how we navigate that within a team, so she's been gold in that respect for me." Shearer spent three years as CEO of Snow Sports NZ, before taking charge of NZ Water polo in 2021, when Covid was having a big impact. She is also board chair of Canoe Racing NZ. Winstanley-Smith's first three months of communication with Shearer was over Zoom, when Auckland was in lockdown. "She came in, and just provided a support for me and a guidance in the New Zealand high performance environment, and her connections and ability to get stuff done is just incredible. "Immediately, her knowledge and expertise, she came from Snow Sports and we've all seen the success they have had, and also Canoe Racing New Zealand, so two organisations she's been involved with who've had a lot of Olympic success, I don't think that's by chance." Jan Shearer (left) and Leslie Egnot at the Barcelona Olympic Games, 1992. Photo: PHOTOSPORT Winstanley-Smith said Powrie was the most unassuming, laid-back person she had ever worked with. "So level-headed, which is fantastic for me, because she balances my ADHD out, so it's great," she laughed. "She just loves being involved in sport, but not for the limelight. The girls can sit down at breakfast in tournament and chat through, 'What was the morning like before you went out to sail your last race and won gold' - those key moments that Polly has lived that she can bring real-life experience." White Caps captain Jessica Milicich, 29, has been in the squad for nine years and said missing out on Paris was difficult, but it made them confident they could make it. She said having so much Olympic experience around the team was invaluable. "Having Angie lead our programme has been really important for us," Milicich said. "We wouldn't be in the position that we are today without her. "She's really driven the women's programme forward in the time that she's been head coach. I've never met anyone as technically capable as her. "She understands what you're going through in high-pressure moments, she is very calm in times of stress, she is just so valuable and we are lucky to have someone like her involved." Jessica Milicich of the NZ women's water polo team. Photo: Deep Blue Media Milicich said also having Powrie and Kendall in their camp filled them with confidence. "They both came to the Doha world champs with us last year and the impact that they had was so positive, so all of our feedback was that we wanted them to be involved moving forward. "Barbara creates an atmosphere where she brings out the best in everyone. She is really focussed on how we can perform as a group and individually at our best, so I think that is really important, because when you get to those international moments, she has so much experience and value to offer. "Then Polly is just awesome. Having the two of them, I think we are very fortunate, and I don't think you'd look across any other staff or team management, and have the same kind of experience or value." Traditionally, Europe produces strong water polo teams like Hungary, Greece and Italy. USA is strong in women's water polo and Australia won silver in Paris last year. "For us to break in to that upper tier, we are a little bit further away, so the more we get exposed to those kind of teams, the better," Milicich said. Water polo is now one of 10 recognised team sports under the High Performance Sport New Zealand programme, which has bumped up their funding. "Singapore is one of our first world championships where we haven't had to do much fundraising," Milicich said. "It's covered, but normally, it has been self-funded. "To get to this point where we can now move forward and hopefully continue to grow the sport is really exciting." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
17-06-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
NZ women's water polo team target LA 2028 for Olympic first
Photo: LaPresse/Gian Mattia D'Alberto The women's White Caps believe they have a golden opportunity to qualify New Zealand for the Olympic Games for the first time, thanks to an increased quota in women's water polo. The New Zealand women's water polo team narrowly missed out on Paris 2024, with just two goals the difference between the team and Olympic qualification. They're now looking to make history as the team begins its campaign towards qualifying for LA 2028, where the Olympic quota for women's water polo is set to increase from 10 teams to 12. The women's White Caps have been training in Auckland and are set to begin their Olympic Campaign at next month's World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. Head coach and British Water Polo Olympian Angie Winstanley-Smith said the quota expansion was fantastic news. "This is a game changer for women's water polo in New Zealand and it will inspire not only our current squad members but also the next generation to keep pushing and keep believing," said Winstanley-Smith. "It's a great moment for our sport and we're working extremely hard to put ourselves in the best possible position to make it to LA 2028." Women's water polo was only added to the Olympics in 2000, with men's water polo on the programme since 1900. Captain Jessica Milicich has been a squad member for nine years and said making the Olympics would be a dream come true. "This is the start of a huge campaign for us. We've come so close before and that heartbreak has only made us stronger and more determined," Milicich said. "Making the Olympics would be the ultimate reward for all the work we've put in, and it would be a massive moment for the sport in New Zealand. We want to be the team that makes history and paves the way for future generations of girls coming into water polo." Milicich said the World Champs would serve as a key benchmark for the team as they begin their journey toward LA 2028. "We're under no illusions, we know qualifying for the Olympics is incredibly tough. But we've proven we belong at this level. This team has grit, skill, and belief and we're going all in." The women's White Caps begin their World Championships campaign against Italy on 11 July.
