KIHEI — Living in a small town in the middle of the Pacific Ocean doesn’t always offer a lot of access to athletic opportunity, so Island Aquatics and Water Polo brought it to Maui.

According to program director Shawn Donohue, the organization fundraised about $10,000 to host three-time Olympian Kami Craig and two-sport professional athlete Kaleigh Gilchrist at the Kihei Aquatic Center for the Camps4Champs water polo clinic.

Craig and Gilchrist, who were both members of the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 2016 Rio Olympics, shared their expertise with 27 Maui Interscholastic League players during a two-day training session last week, teaching the girls the fundamentals of the sport, as well as about communication, respect and confidence.

“Really our main focus was on female youth athletes because we’ve had the pleasure of competing alongside each other, we’ve had the pleasure of competing against each other and still uplifting each other and you know, we love water polo and the friendships we’ve made through water polo, and we thought about how we would share this,” said the 32-year-old Craig, who before retiring played 13 years as a center on the Women’s USA Senior National Team, helping the Americans win silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics before taking gold in 2012 and ’16. “Part of reaching any level of accomplishment is not always easy, it’s not always fun, but at the same time, there’s a lot of excitement in it and so if you can work through the tough days and continue to enjoy the fun days, that time builds up and the work that you’ve done starts to build up.”

The main components of the clinic included a team development session in the classroom, as well as water polo drills in the pool and dryland — the same skills and fundamentals used by the national team.

“We’re as equally excited as Maui is to have us here and it’s just the first day and we’re beaming,” Craig said Friday night. “So pumped.”

The mix of MIL water polo players also learned two-meter offense and defense, and position specific training for drivers and shooters.

“It’s amazing, and it’s just such a great experience, especially in Maui because we don’t have a lot of opportunities, especially in water polo,” Baldwin High School sophomore Keanna Campbell said. “(Craig) is awesome, we’ve already learned so much in this first practice and I’m super excited to keep learning more.”

Gilchrist, 27, also competes on the World Surf League Women’s Qualifying Series while balancing training with the U.S. water polo senior national team.

“We were really excited and looking forward to this camp, Kami and I, we’ve only done one other camp this year because we got some pretty crazy, hectic schedules,” Gilchrist said. “It was so much fun, these girls are very willing to learn and are very open to everything and when that happens, it makes our jobs so much easier and more enjoyable, and it’s just so much fun continuing to work with Kami and build our connection, and continue to grow the sport and empower these young women.”

For those looking to take their passion to the next level, whether it be striving for a state championship, making varsity, playing at the collegiate level or perhaps making an Olympic team, Gilchrist advised “just to dream big.”

“Once you have your goal and dream that you set out for, breaking it down into smaller goals and slowly but surely accomplishing that and before you know it, the little things start becoming the big thing,” she said.

The Olympic duo hoped the MIL water polo girls took home at least one lesson from the quick 9-hour camp. Campbell, for one, definitely soaked in the experience.

“We learned that we’re capable of doing things, we learned a lot about empowerment in the water, it’s not just about training your body, it’s also about training your mind to do better,” she said. “I hope to get more experience, and just really like, be more confident in the water and for our whole team to get closure and stuff.”

* Dakota Grossman is at dgrossman@mauinews.com.