Water Polo Australia Strategic Plan 2025-2032+
On August 19th,Tim Welsford, CEO of Water Polo Australia (WPA) outlined for the WA sporting community a Strategic Plan to guide the business and action of WPA over the next seven years.
Steered by a catchy, contemporary value system coined as H2O, the plan characterises WPA as:
H High Performing = striving for excellence, innovation, accountability, and with a growth mindset.
2 Together = with a unity of purpose and integrity, working as one team.
O Open = inclusive and welcoming.
Stretching two summer Olympic Games, Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032, it unsurprisingly draws from the ‘WELL’ strategy of the Australian Sports Commission, to prioritise:
Lead Well: business services.
Play Well: participation and engagement.
Win Well: sustained success on the world stage.
Although WPA’s aspirational goal to bank $20 million in revenue, build a 30,000-player membership, and win two Olympic medals by 2032 may appear a pie in the sky dream, we need only look to the performances of the Aussie Stingers to realise that anything is possible. However, one thing is for sure; a Strategic Plan cannot simply rely on aspirations, it needs the strong backing of clear, quantifiable working documents to which the WPA Board can hold the WPA team to account.
The Phantom Committee certainly looks forward to the promise of “customisations for jurisdictions” and what that might look like at the grass roots level. For now, let’s watch this space on the ‘Ways’ WPA will action the Strategic Plan 2025-2032+ into more than just success in the pool.
Thanks to Donna Barwood for this summary
