WPNSW Season Review 2020/21
Published Thu 20 May 2021
WPNSW Season Review 2020/21
It’s been a busy and successful year of events for Water Polo NSW. Covid-19 has proven to be a persistent nuisance over the past 12 months, but it is amazing to be a part of the return of community sport and some resemblance of a “normal” lifestyle.
Events:
Return to Sport Festival
We hosted the Return to Sport Festival in partnership with Kap7 and Beach 4’s in July. The event saw our juniors and masters playing in the Beach 4’s format at Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre. It was a great Covid safe way to get teams back together and bodies in the water!
Spring/Summer Metro Season
The Spring/Summer Metro season ran from October until March with a Christmas break in the middle. For the 14’s and 16’s with uncertainty around a second wave of Covid-19 the decision was made to split the “Championship” grades into two seasons, culminating in mini-tournament style finals. This was a great way to increase how many games each team played and to ensure a high level of competition.
Sydney Super League
The Sydney Super League was created to fill the gap in play due to Covid-19 for our elite players. The competition saw each participating club host a home round culminating in Finals at held at Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre on 20th March. The whole competition was deemed a huge success with great feedback around the structure of the competition and the high level of play.
State U19’s
As part of an initiative to develop our rising stars a boys and girls U19 State team was entered into the Spring M1 and L1 competition. The Sydney Super League provided an opportunity for further progression for the U19’s, particularly for the boys team. For each of their SSL games the boys were joined by club nominated Marquee players, providing an opportunity for the team to be mentored in the water by some of Australia’s top players and giving the team a boost in terms of performance in the pool.
Kap7 Cup
With the cancellation of the AWL competition there was a need to continue to provide quality competition to assist in the preparation of the Aussie Stinger and Sharks squads for Tokyo. With a couple of days’ notice WPNSW, WPA, and our clubs were able to deliver a quality competition over the Easter long weekend supported by WPA’s high performance team
Junior Country Clubs
Junior Country Clubs was hosted in Newcastle with 37 teams competing in the annual competition. The event was an excellent showcase of regional junior talent and the atmosphere provided by all teams and spectators was some of the best seen in our sport.
U12’s Festival
The U12’s Festival was held in Orange in March which is a little later in the event calendar than usual. It was a great success with 23 teams from across both metro and regional clubs coming together for a weekend of good-spirited games. The focus of this event as with all of our U12’s divisions was around participation and engagement.
Junior State Clubs Festival
We hosted the Junior State Clubs Festival at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre from 6th-8th and 13th-15th April as well as additional games at Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre and Ashfield Aquatic Centre. Due to the Covid outbreak in Queensland meaning the Australian Youth Championships had to be cancelled the festival more than doubled in size with a few days to go. We are pleased to have been able to accommodate all teams who wished to play, the event was a huge success with six days of great polo and good fun!
Open Country Clubs and State Team Selection
The Open Country Clubs Championships in April saw regional teams from all over NSW come together in Canberra to compete in the annual competition. It was a great weekend of polo, a chance for friends to catch up and some good spirited old rivalries were continued. Thanks to Water Polo ACT for hosting the Saturday night function!
The competition was also used as a selection event for the NSW Australian Country team, those picked will compete on the Gold Coast later this month – go NSW!!
Programs:
Girls Making Waves
The Girls Making Waves program is about creating a welcoming and enjoyable water polo experience for girls that may not have previously considered the sport, with the goal to give them the confidence to join a club. So far Girls Making Waves sessions have been held in Sydney and also been on tour to Charlestown and Lavington, with more locations in the pipeline for later in the year.
FlippaSchools
FlippaSchools teaches students essential life skills such as water safety, swimming and treading water, hand-eye coordination, cooperation, communication, and confidence, through familiar group games and activity for juniors
We have taken the FlippaSchools program to several schools around NSW including regional areas and engaged with hundreds of kids – hopefully inspiring them to get involved with Water Polo as they grow up now that they’ve mastered the basics!
Coming Up:
Coming up we have the Winter Metro competition which starts on 30th May, Col Smee in July as well as the University Cup and Masters.
