Most often happen in the walls of Parliament House, but the past week saw something special in the pool.

Tamworth’s under-16 girls water polo team achieved an impressive seventh place finish against the cream of what the state had to offer at the NSW Championships.

The girls had a memorable campaign across four days of play in the nation’s capital.

Tamworth coach Ross White said it had been at least five years since a local side had reached the quarter-final stage.

“We were stoked to finish in seventh place out of 24 teams which played at the championships,” White said.

“We beat Sydney Uni Lions Blue 7-6 to secure that placing and were the second best team from a country area behind Central Coast which plays in the metropolitan competition.

“From memory the last time we reached the quarter-finals was in 2012.”

White said Tamworth acquitted themselves well against eventual champions UNSW Wests Killer Whales 12-4 in a pool game.

Making the performance even more noteworthy was the fact they had limited training time ahead of the state championships as White explained.

“The team only got together a handful of times before the titles to train, we’ve got one girl from Armidale, who cannot train with us all the time,” he said.

“Even so, the most pleasing aspect of the week was how the girls worked well together and developed some excellent combinations.

“You can’t perform the way we did against the Sydney teams without the whole team coming together and playing their roles.”

Tamworth had two players among in the tournament’s top 10 goalscorers.

Mikayla Gross finished a memorable campaign by scoring 14 goals, the equal seventh best.

Gross got her name on the scoresheet in all seven matches she played, with her best effort being four goals against UTS Balmain Tigers. 

Giaan White was also dynamite in front of the posts, slotting 13 goals, headlined by an impressive four-goal haul in an 8-2 defeat of ACT Fins and hat-trick in the seventh versus eighth playoff.

Billie Mitchell and Lucy Hofman also played important roles for the Tamworth side, which has set its sights on competing at October’s nationals in Hobart.

“We’re on the lookout for businesses to help sponsor us for that trip, the costs when you take in accommodation and flights is up around $15,000, so any assistance would be fantastic, they can visit our Facebook page,” he said.​