Toowoomba to host Queensland water polo championships

Toowoomba is set to host another Queensland championship sporting event – here’s how it happened

WATER POLO: Toowoomba is quickly establishing itself as a city capable of hosting major sporting events.

In the wake of the Queensland Junior Lawn Bowls Championships, the Garden City is set to host the Water Polo Queensland Country Championships.

A record number of teams will compete in the event with the Milne Bay Aquatic Centre, The Glennie and Toowoomba Grammar schools sharing hosting duties.

“We’ve been looking forward to having the championships here for a while,” Toowoomba Water Polo president Brian Stubbs said.

“There are teams from Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, the Gold and Sunshine Coasts competing.”

The coast teams will be among the favourites at the championships, but Stubbs believes Toowoomba will give a good account of itself.

“I think we can get up there,” he said.

“It’s going to be real hard to beat Gold Coast and Sunny Coast, but I think we can get up there into third or fourth position.

“We’ve got a lot of older players coming back – bigger players with good shots and some young guys to do all the swimming for us.”

Water Polo Queensland and Toowoomba Regional Council partnered together for the event which will bring more than 200 participants to the Garden City.

“It’s the first time it’s been back here in the region for over five years which we think is wonderful for the region,” Water Polo Queensland CEO Melaine Woosnam said.

“We had been talking to a number of tourism bodies around Queensland, and we were very fortunate that Toowoomba Regional Council was able to provide sport event tourism funding to help offset some of the costs.

“The standard (of play) is always quite good, and we have a record number of 18 teams coming this year.

“We select Queensland Country teams from this event which will then compete at the Australian Country championships.”

Toowoomba Regional Council’s Tim McMahon said hosting the event was a win for sport and the region.

“It’s very humbling to see these applications (for funding) come through,” Cr McMahon said.

“We’re all in when it comes to getting these types of events to the region.

“It builds the profile of the sport, and it builds the profile of the region as well.”

Milne Bay Aquatic and Fitness Centre will host a special gala day on February 6.

Newly appointed head of performance and pathways Aleks Osadchuck will be the guest coach at the event from 3-5pm which will focus on helping interested swimmers learn the basics of the sport.