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“I took this job because we work in perspective”

22 July 2025
Italy’s coach Maurizio Mirarchi talking strategy during a time-out at the women’s water polo quarterfinals at the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU Games © Mikulas Celta / Rhine-Ruhr 2025

Coach Maurizio Mirarchi guiding the future of Italian women’s water polo.

Water polo is a demanding sport that requires lots of sacrifice and dedication. For student-athletes, balancing academics and intense training makes it even more challenging.

Maurizio Mirarchi, coach of the Italian women’s team at the Rhine Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games, understands this well. He puts his heart into mentoring his young players, helping them grow not only as competitors but as the champions of tomorrow.

Mirarchi’s choice

Coach Mirarchi made a clear decision: to train student-athletes, both at the international level and in the Italian championship, and he stands firmly by his choice.

“There’s no trick, you just have to make sacrifices, train and try to give your best in every session. If you train well, matches are a consequence of training. The trick is simply to do your best during the week,” he said, speaking about the challenges of coaching such a young group.

One of the most important aspects for Mirarchi is keeping his pupils fully focused, especially in the most difficult moments, when emotions and tension can weigh heavily on young minds.

“I always ask for their maximum attention. I try to explain the various situations that arise in the match to make sure they have it. It’s not easy, because there are emotions, there is the moment, there is the match. We try to make sure that things are explained well in some moments of the match.”

The hardest part of being a student-athlete in Mirarchi’s opinion? “They have to balance their work and their student activities. It’s a big commitment for them. This is a sport that requires a lot of sacrifice, so they are really good at managing both things in the best way possible.”

A stepping stone to the future

Rhine-Ruhr 2025 represents an enriching and valuable experience for the Italian coach. “It’s a good level, a good high level. There are good teams, from Australia, Germany, Japan, us, Hungary, the United States,” he said, about the calibre of different delegations competing in the tournament.

Looking ahead to the future of his young protégés, Mirarchi sees the FISU Games as a key benchmark for preparing them for the next level of competition, such as the Olympics or the World Championships.

“The university team is always a tank, where the national team can take on the athletes. So, it’s very important to do it well, to do the competition seriously, because then it can be a showcase to continue later,” he affirmed.

His vision is long-term and clear: these kinds of tournaments are not an end, but a means to grow.

“I took this job because we work in perspective. So, we try to make these girls grow, making them have as many experiences as possible. And this is a good experience for them, because they are all young girls. So, I hope that over the years they can play even more important competitions.”

Italy’s coach Maurizio Mirarchi following the quarterfinals at the women’s water polo tournament | © Mikulas Celta / Rhine-Ruhr 2025

Looking to match their silver-medal finish from Chengdu 2023, the Italian women reached the semifinals on Tuesday, 22 July with a dominant 20-5 win against Türkiye. Mirarchi’s side will face the United States on Thursday for a spot in Saturday’s gold-medal match.

The Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games take place from 16-27 July. Watch all the competitions live on fisu.tv. Click on the link to find the full schedule.

Written by Valentina Rasini, EU U-Media Ambassador, Italy

The Young Reporters Programme exemplifies FISU’s commitment to more than sports competitions. At every FISU World University Games, a group of talented aspiring sports journalists are chosen to cover the competition.

We warmly thank FISU Official Partner Qiaodan Ltd. which provides remarkable uniforms to FISU Family and International Technical Officials since 2015. Qiaodan is a valuable partner for FISU as it continued to provide its support during the postponement of events due to the global pandemic, and recently extended the relationship with FISU up to and including 2025.

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