Water Polo: Tamworth side finishes third at Water Polo NSW under-12s carnival

"A few of the kids went to school with their medals on," the sides coach Laura Hill told The Leader.

The mixed side won four of their six games, going down to the hosts in a close game that Hill said "could have gone either way" and eventual winners Armidale in what was also a really competitive game.

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The weekend though wasn't really about results, it was about participation and development. They played under modified rules, including six-a-side as opposed to seven, and players can't shoot outside the five metres and can't pass longer than 10 metres.

Hill said the side did really well and is excited to see what not only next year "will look like for them", with only four too old for the under-12s, but beyond that.

"There was a lot of talent in the pool and I can't wait to see what they do when they hit the 14s and 16s," she said.

Training since late last year, she said they improved immensely over the two days.

"You could just see how much difference playing six games made," she said.

"They progressed so much."

Defensively for example they were covering the counter so much better by the end and in attack were setting up for the mushroom (attacking formation).

For a lot of the side it was their first actual water polo tournament.

They were meant to go to the annual Balmain 12-and-under carnival in January but that was cancelled in response to the COVID situation in Sydney.

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