Water Polo WA (WPWA) welcomes the news state representative teams will continue to compete at a National State Championships in 2024.
Water Polo Australia (WPA) has this week confirmed the event is being included, with agreed changes to delivery, in the WPA National Competition Calendar for the upcoming 2024-2025 season.
Through consultation with member State Water Polo Associations, Water Polo Australia led a thorough and collective review of the NSC event and has provided changes to the delivery of the event aligned to the overall competition calendar and pathways programs.
The changes will ensure all levels of the sport work together and that athletes have the greatest pathway opportunities to represent their Club, State and have the potential for selection to represent Australia.
Key points:
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National State Championships reviewed to improve athlete experience
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15Us and 17Us Males and Females events in one location
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26-30 September 2024, Gold Coast Qld
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19Us Males and Females Talent ID Camp (more detail to follow)
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New dates for Australian Youth Water Polo Championships 2025
National State Championships
The 15U and 17U Male and Female National State Championships will take place concurrently, in the same location, across multiple venues, from the 26th to the 30th of September 2024, on the Gold Coast, Queensland.
Following the review, the 2024 NSC event will see each State allowed one team per gender to compete for the National State Championship Title.
National State Championships is a performance competition for State representative teams and a selection event for the Water Polo Australia National Age Group Program (NAGP). The NAGP forms part of the WPA High Performance Framework and is designed to prepare athletes, coaches, and referees for Australian representative opportunities.
In 2023 eight Western Australian teams competed across 15U, 17U and 19U age groups where the State celebrated a total of five bronze medals.
Additionally, the 19&U will transition to a Talent Identification Camp. Further details as well as dates and venues to be released soon.
Australian Youth Water Polo Championships
WPA will soon unveil new dates for the Australian Youth Water Polo Championships being held in Perth, 2025. We will ensure to share with our members the official announcements from WPA, which we anticipate in the coming next few weeks.
WA Performance Program
WPWA understands the importance of providing pathway opportunities for all our members whether in metropolitan or regional and remote communities everyone with talent and aspirations of representing their club, State or Australia provided opportunities to develop.
The Western Australian water polo community has for the past few years welcomed funding from WPA in support of our WA Performance Program (WAPP), and we are pleased to announce the WAPP will continue in 2024. Made possible through a partnership agreement between WPA, WPWA, our two Australian Waterpolo League (AWL) licence holder performance clubs and WAPP delivery partners, Melville WPC and UWA WPC, and representatives of all WA member clubs, details of the 2024 program will be announced in the coming weeks.
As with all sport performance programs, for continual improvement purposes and to ensure the best model of delivery to engage and develop athletes and coaches, the 2023 WAPP has undergone a review, including a review of stakeholder roles and responsibilities, with a collective of recommendations being presented to our WAPP Management Committee and High-Performance Committee for consideration. Once agreed changes are finalised, WPWA will make further announcements on the 2024 WAPP launch.
WPWA extends thanks to WPA for ongoing support of the WAPP. We also thank all staff, volunteers and performance coaching staff, assistant coaches and referees, and technical contributors who work tirelessly to ensure the success and ongoing due diligence and monitoring of our WAPP and State Teams to ensure Western Australian athletes continue to have growth and advancement within the sport.
Stay Informed
We appreciate your understanding as we navigate through the changes and upcoming winter season.
We encourage all members of the Water Polo WA community to stay informed and to this end we endeavour to provide regular updates with information as we receive it.
For any inquiries or further information, please contact us.
