Water polo star Tilly Kearns follows rugby legend dad Phil Kearns into the international sporting arena

A FIERCE young water polo star has been promoted to the Australian Stingers Women’s Senior Squad and is vying for selection for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Queenwood student, Mosman resident and Australian water polo Stingers squad member Tilly Kearns. Picture: Jeremy Piper

A FIERCE young water polo star has been promoted to the Australian Stingers Women’s Senior Squad and is vying for selection for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Mosman’s Matilda “Tilly” Kearns (pictured), daughter of World Cup-winning Wallaby legend Phil Kearns, has been nominated for the Local Sports Star Junior Individual award for her tireless work in training and her performance in the FINA 2016 World Women’s Youth Championships in Auckland last year.

Her father, who won two World Cups in his 67 Tests for Australia, played water polo in his teenage years too.

The hardworking 16-year-old Queenwood student trains every morning during the sport’s peak season and has her eyes set on a major tournament in Greece in September.

If Kearns makes the cut for the squad in July, she will head to 12th FINA World Women’s Junior Water Polo Championships in the coastal port city of Volos.

Australia has drawn China, Greece and South Africa in the prestigious tournament.

The youngster said she was overwhelmed when she found out she’d been selected for the Stingers squad.

Tilly Kearns with dad Phil Kearns. Picture: Ryan Osland

“I got an email at the end of April,” she said. “I looked at it when I was in class and I started to cry!”

Kearns has been travelling to Homebush for training every morning and said it has been tough to balance school work with her sport. But, she said she has loved water polo since she started playing aged 13.

“I played netball before and I always liked team sports and ball sports,” she said. “So I tried it out and I liked it straight away. I also like the social side of it. It is definitely a growing sport and it’s got a lot bigger in the last few years.”

Queenwood director of sports, Daniel Kozey, said Matilda’s training regimen alone sees her training for multiple teams and squads across the week, travelling to and from training venues across Sydney to hone her craft.

“Matilda displays the utmost dedication, commitment and determination to succeed within her chosen sport,” he said. “While the fiercest of competitors, she ensures that the virtue of respecting opponents, and the game, is of utmost importance.”

He added that Kearns is tough and aggressive in the water, but laid back and calm out of it — enjoying time with team mates and opposition players outside the competition arena.