Roar and score: how family support fuels Olympic dreams

For the Mayers, food, footy, and philanthropy have always been a family affair. Fred Mayer arrived in Australia from Hungary in the 1950s, and quickly established himself as a success in the food import game, a lifelong Roosters fan, and an adept surf lifesaver. But his true vocation lay in water polo: starting out playing for the Bondi team, Fred found in this sport a community of mates that would stay with him throughout the decades.

Fred played water polo for the Sydney University Lions for more than 30 years. He also passed his passion on to sons Sam and Robbie: Fred’s final match at age 70 was alongside his two boys in the Metropolitan M5 Championships. As Sam Mayer tells it, “We won the grand final 8‑6. My brother and I both scored four goals. Dad took a lot of pleasure in being able to say that between the three Mayers, we scored all 8 goals.”

It was this long history with the Lions which spurred his sons to give back to the club through the Fred Mayer Foundation. Their donation, which funds the Fred Mayer Awards, helps water polo players up to the elite level to compete in the sport they love. Most recently, the awards supported some of the University’s – and Australia’s – top water polo players to travel to Paris for the 2024 Olympic Games.

This included Sydney alumna Keesja Gofers (BDesArch ’12), who competed in her third Olympics as part of the women’s national team, the Stingers. She was cheered on by her husband Scott Nicholson (BA ’12) and her 16‑month‑old‑daughter Teleri.

“Balancing motherhood with preparing for the Olympics was the biggest challenge I’ve ever faced,” describes Keesja. “I have a rule that however things go at training, I leave it there. It’s made me a better athlete and a better mum.”

Grants like those provided by the Fred Mayer Foundation are critical for elite athletes, who make huge sacrifices in their work and personal lives – and incur significant expenses – to pursue their dreams and commit themselves to training for an event like the Olympics. Many of Australia’s fastest, strongest, and most determined athletes conduct rigorous training for their sport while also balancing demanding degrees like engineering, architecture and medicine.

“Support from generous people like the Mayers is so important when you’re balancing sport and study,” explains Keesja. As well as the national team, Keesja still plays for Sydney University, a club she has belonged to since she was 10. Along with her fellow Lions players, Matilda Kearns and Sienna Green, Keesja made it through several nail‑biting rounds in Paris – including three penalty shoot‑outs against the Netherlands, Hungary, and world champions USA – to the Stingers’ first Olympic final since 2000, and a silver medal.

The longevity of both Fred and Keesja’s careers with the University club is a testament to the strength and passion of Sydney’s water polo community. And the Mayers aren’t the only water polo family at Sydney: Keesja’s three sisters, Chivonne, Allira, and Taniele (BA(Hons) ’11), who won a bronze medal at Beijing, have all been Lions. Her husband Scott has both played for and coaches at the club.

Along with more Olympic gold, silver and bronze, Sam Mayer’s hope for the future is that the community continues to grow, with senior players pitching in with the juniors, and teams rallying to support one another.

“Dad was a big advocate for how good sport is for people, relying on other people, them relying on you,” explains Sam. In this too, he is carrying on Fred’s legacy of mateship and camaraderie. As Fred put it at the close of his 1998 memoir, “I would like to see us play on the same side together, family, friends, and world. After all, everyone’s a mate!”  

Written by Chloe Pryce for the donor publication. Photography supplied