Live stream: The unlikely story behind the rise of Australia’s next water polo champion Izzy Scott

It’s an unlikely international mixture which has set the daughter of a legend on the road to her own slice of history. Read about Izzy Scott’s rapid rise, see her play at the AWPYC from Saturday.

Two Greeks, a Canadian and an Australian Olympic trailblazer - it’s the international concoction that has set Western Australia whiz-kid Izzy Scott on the road to history.

One of the fastest rising talents in Aussie water polo, the Melville junior will pack up her life next year to take up a scholarship with top level US college Stanford University.

The teenager becomes the first Australian to be accepted into the highly-successful Stanford water polo program.

But Scott, who is the daughter of Aussie 2000 Olympic gold medallist Liz Scott, said it is an opportunity that would not have been possible if not for a couple of the more unique housemates she has ever had.

Izzy Scott is headed to the US later this year.

Catch Scott at the Australian Youth Championships run from January 6-15, with the Under-14 and Under-18 championships across the opening week before the Under-12 and Under-16 tournaments the following week.

All of the action from the main pool in Brisbane will be exclusively live streamed on KommunityTV.

It was while the young goalkeeper embarked on her first season with the Fremantle Marlins in the Australian Water Polo League that the Scott family played host to the club’s star international recruits, Greek-American sisters Ioanna and Stephania Haralabidis.

Stephania, who plays for the US national team, is a three-time World Super League Final winner and Olympic gold medallist, having scored 13 goals for the US on their way to the gold at Tokyo 2020.

For Scott, the sisters were simply friends and soon-to-be sparring partners in the pool, along with Australian Stinger Zoe Arancini and Canadian men’s import Ronan Grosz.

“They were my lift to training each week,” she said.

“They would come into the pool early with me, and we would always stay back well after the sessions and just work on shooting.

“Having them shoot at me every single day, in the first three months of them being here I just improved out of sight.

“Zoe would also stay back with us and work on her shooting and a few times the men’s team import Ronan would also get involved.

Mum won gold at the 2000 Olympics.

“One session mum came down and just watched as they shot at me for hours, she just thought it was an amazing experience. It really was. If it wasn’t for them, I know I wouldn’t be going to Stanford.”

Scott’s self-motivation and drive to train comes from a relentless desire to make herself better and a penchant for taking risks.

The opportunity to join Stanford, the reigning NCAA water polo champions, is another product of that drive.

Scott sent emails, highlights and took three weeks in the middle of her senior exams – she completed them two weeks before everyone else to free up the time – to tour the facilities at both Harvard and Stanford.

While both schools took a shine to her, even then she was left to jump through more hoops to make it through the highly-selective admissions process.

Izzy Scott will play in her final Australian Youth Championships in January.

“They don’t always like to accept international students, the priority is for American athletes to get the scholarships, so I knew I had to make my application as best as it could be,” Scott said.

“When we were touring Harvard, they explained to me that I could only apply to one of the schools because of the way the application process worked. I understood… it didn’t make it easy. I said no to Harvard, which was sad, but Stanford is the right place for what I want to do.

“I was so lucky to be accepted into the program. Seeing the way they train and just imagining myself in those goals, I know how good that is going to be for my game.”

Scott won’t make the journey to the US until September next year, and the young gun said there are a few milestones she has left to achieve at home, starting with January’s Australian Youth Championships.

The goalkeeper will take up her position between the posts for Melville in what will be her final shot at the annual tournament at Brisbane’s Sleeman Centre.

Scott has already carved out a slice of history at the Championships in the past, winning gold with Melville in the U14s, knocking off gold-plated arch rivals Mermaids in the final.

With some high-profile help in their corner this year in the form of Olympic coaching duo Belinda Brooks and Yvette Higgins, Scott reckons Melville stands a good chance of bringing back the gold to Western Australia.

“We have a really competitive group this year, and I think everyone is determined to go in and do the smashing rather than getting smashed,” she said.

Originally published as Live stream: The unlikely story behind the rise of Australia’s next water polo champion Izzy Scott