Water Polo | Elevate and Olympian Muller join forces to champion the next wave of water polo talent

Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa: When Hanna Muller took a group of South Africa's most promising under-16 water polo players to Spain, it was far more than just another overseas trip. It was a strategic investment in the future of the sport. As a player and coach, Muller is part of Elevate Water Polo's mission to close the performance gap between South Africa and the world's leading water polo nations.

Coach Hanna explaining: Elevate Water Polo coach Hanna Muller (standing on left) coaching her under-16 girls' team during their recent tour to Spain

This was one of three planned trips for Elevate teams to Europe, where the rising stars of the game are trained by some of the best coaches in the world before coming up against local and international club sides – all with the aim of elevating the level of the sport in South Africa.

"The trip to Spain was fantastic for all these young players to experience. The opportunity to train with some amazing Spanish academy coaches and to represent the Elevate under-16 team in a highly competitive tournament was phenomenal," explained Muller. "We need more players to be given this type of exposure for South Africa to catch up to the top countries of the world.

"It is amazing how the players developed over such a short time."

Muller knows all about what it takes to reach the top after being introduced to the sport at high school and working her way up the ranks.

"I was schooled at Stirling in East London and loved the sport from day one," she explained. "When I finished school, I was fortunate enough to attend a US college and enjoyed my time there, which ultimately set me up to return and be selected for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic team, which was a dream come true for me."

While competing on the ultimate global stage is every athlete's dream, results at senior level have shown that massive gaps still exist between the top teams in the world, who are largely professional, and the amateur South Africans, who still need full-time jobs to fund themselves.

Muller herself is a qualified fitness trainer and works as head of the water polo programme at Clarendon High School for Girls in East London. But she's optimistic that, through Elevate's efforts, things are changing.

"The right support is essential. We have good athletes, but we need an aligned plan that is well-communicated and one that we can all commit to," she pointed out.

"Then I think we could see results and improvement fairly quickly. That is where Elevate is doing great work in trying to prepare players and teams more extensively to perform in key events. We need more of that, and then, I am sure South Africa can do well as a water polo country."

With the next Olympic Games three years away, Muller has set her sights on a return to the international stage, where she could potentially be lining up alongside some of the players, she's currently coaching.

"I love the game and made the natural progression from player to coach a few years ago. I love sharing knowledge and seeing young girls start to progress and master the skills," she explained.

"I still have ambitions as a player and would definitely like to see if I could make the grade should the opportunity arise for Los Angeles 2028.