Beach bronze for handball star Tess Fitzgerald as she sets her sights on World Championships

Tess and her teammates took bronze in Adelaide.

Photo: Curtesy of Tess Fitzgerald.

Handball champion Tess Fitzgerald can do it all, whether it be on the beach or the hardwood, she is a force to be reckoned with.

The Engineering and Economics student is a member of the Australian indoor handball squad, yet it was on the beach where she competed most recently.

The Australian Beach Handball Championships were held in Adelaide earlier this month and Tess represented one of Victoria’s two state teams at the tournament.

Despite predominantly being an indoor player, Tess and her Victorian teammates took to the beach with style and finished the Championships in third place, earning a bronze medal.

“I was really excited because the girls worked really hard over the summer,” Tess said.

“I think we were quite surprised ourselves, we didn’t really expect to do as well as we did so that was really nice.

“It was my second tournament, I played beach handball for the first time last year, so it was kind of nice to go back as I’d joined the beach squad again and played a lot better throughout the lead up [to this year’s tournament].

Due to time constraints from being in the final year of her double degree, Tess decided it was only feasible to represent one handball team at an international level and she chose indoor over beach.

“I decided to re-allocate my resources and I chose indoor,” Tess said.

“It just gets really expensive to travel to camps and tournaments.”

Despite this, Tess said that she still tries to play beach handball whenever the opportunity arises, viewing it as a helpful way to develop her game and prepare for indoor tournaments.

“I play beach to compliment indoor because there’s a slot of skills that transfer between indoor and beach but as a sport and as a game I definitely prefer indoor,” Tess said.

“In an ideal world I do both and I know that there’s a few people who do.

“Eventually I’ll pick it back up I think.” 

Tess in action at training.

Photo: Curtesy of Tess Fitzgerald.

Following the Australian Beach Handball Championships, Tess’s concentration has switched to her upcoming indoor tournaments, particularly those for the Australian Indoor Handball Team.

World Championships take place in Japan this December and Tess said this will be her main focus for the next 6 months and everything beforehand is only practice.

“I’ve got a club tournament in June, I’m not sure if the Australian team will have much practice then but we might be training and we’ve got a friendly tournament in South Korea in August,” Fitzgerald said.

“It’s going to be really good practice ahead of World Championships in Japan in December.”

A member of the Elite Student Performer Scheme, Tess said that Team Monash’s support has made a significant impact on her ability to balance her sporting commitments with her studies.

In particular Fitzgerald praised the level of support Team Monash builds around its athletes, allowing them to meet one another and build relationships with students in similar positions.

“I wish I knew about it [ESPS] a lot sooner because it’s been really helpful,” Fitzgerald said.

“The support has been amazing, the network of people, it’s nice to be exposed to all the other students doing things like me and doing amazing things.”

Congratulations on your bronze medal Tess and we wish you the best of luck at Indoor World Championships in December, wear the green and gold with pride!

Written by Joseph Arthur, Media Coordinator