NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2017

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1 NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2017 From the President The Board has been working hard over the last 3 months to enable the season to begin seamlessly. Shortly ACT water polo will launch its new website along with a new registration portal. We are very excited to bring the ACT community this very new and innovative approach to sport. There are a number of successful innovations being undertaken in 2017/18: 1. The Board of ACT Water Polo has decided to return to the historical name of Canberra Dolphins for all ACT representative teams. The Dolphins were the NWPL team from 1990 to 2008 and have a long association as the name of ACT Representative teams. The name ACT Fins was utilized as a combination of the AIS Fins and ACT teams when the two Canberra based NWPL teams ceased to exist. The logo and colours previously used by the Canberra Dolphins has been reinstated for all representative teams. 2. The launch of the ACT sanctioned Southern Cross League will ensure our senior teams access to a higher level of competition after many years of no pathway. The competition is for men and women and will run from January to April The league is the idea of the new ACT Board and will be run by ACT Water Polo. Teams who have confirmed entry are: Sydney Northern Beaches Breakers (women), UNSW Wests (men and women), Sydney University (men and women), Albury/Wodonga and Wagga (men and women), Richmond Tigers (men and women), Footscray (men and women), Melbourne Collegians (men and women), Tasmania (men and women), Sunshine Coast (men and women) and of course Canberra Dolphins (men and women). Each team will play a minimum of 10 games including finals. Both Auckland and Wellington are still considering whether they can participate in the SCWPL as all games are in Australia. Canberra will host two matches during the season. 3. Negotiations with WPNSW have reached a stage where an agreement is being drafted for approval by both boards that will see the creation of the new Canberra Dolphins academy as part of the WPNSW Academy system. It is proposed that the new Canberra Dolphins academy will not only look after the ACT but also southern NSW. Membership of the Canberra Dolphins academy will enable our athletes direct access to WPNSW camps and will improve our pathway. WPNSW is actively supporting the new SCWPL along with the development of our academy. 4. I would like to welcome to the Canberra Dolphins and ACT Water Polo, Alicia Smith, who will take over as senior women s coach. Alicia is a dual Olympic bronze medalist (Beijing and London) who has coached Sydney University Lions to back to back NWPL titles over the past two years. She is one of Australia s best coaches. The whole community welcomes Alicia and her family to Canberra- we are extremely fortunate to have such a high quality coach heading our women s program and academy. 5. ACT Water Polo recently signed a contract with Revolutionise to provide membership services such as registration, competition management and web sites for the Territory and its clubs. Keep an eye out for the new web sites that will be launched on 24 th November 2017.

2 I would like to thank everyone who took part in the August survey and attended the forum at the Ainslie Football Club. Overall 75 people participated in the survey including players, parents, coaches, managers and referees which is a really good result. We gained a lot of insight and most importantly want to action some of the concerns that you have. The main issue that came out of the question what can ACT Water polo improve on is communication. To increase transparency to our members the Board and I have agreed to add the minutes of each Monthly Board meeting to the ACT WP website. Along with this we have been working to launch a brand new user friendly website and will put out a Quarterly newsletter on what s happening in the ACT water polo community. Lastly the survey also found that members were keen for an elite program. I am happy to report that John Fox has been running sessions at CISAC on a Wednesday morning with good results. This session is open to elite players and if you require any further information please admin@actwaterpolo.com Congratulations to our 16U teams who recently competed in the National Aged. The girls won the Bowl Final and the Boys finished on the top 8 great effort from both teams. I want to especially thank all the volunteers that helped the 16U teams including Mel and Lara with the girls team and Lindsay and David with the boys team. I would like to thank Lindsay on his efforts and willingness to step in at the last moment when Coach Don Cameron withdrew on the eve of the championships. Summer competition ACT WP Junior Summer Competition commenced on Friday 20 October For more details regarding fixtures and results go to the ACT Water polo Face book page The Senior Competition will commenced on 1 November with the second grade men competition at Civic pool. Women commenced their competition on 2 November and first grade men will start on 14 November (due to pool closures on 31 October, and Melbourne Cup on 7 November). ACT Water Polo Competition Policy The policy has been updated effective as of 12 October A copy can be found on the ACT WP website. SCWPL Program John Fox will continue to run the Elite/SCWPL Program on Wednesday mornings from am. Players who participate will be invoiced $10 per session they attend at the end of each term. If you have any queries please board@actwaterpolo.com Refereeing Referees will be paid for summer competitions at the end of the season. Grade Amount $ 1st $25 2nd $15 Juniors $10 NB - To be paid referees must sign off on the scorecard.

3 Wrap up from U16 s Nationals "It has been a great winter season for the ACT 16U Boys Team. After placing 5th in their age group at the Sydney Youth Festival, the team has recently returned from the Nationals in Sept at Homebush with a well-deserved 8th place. Seeded 15th, ACT easily won all three games in their group to reach the second round. A tougher second round involved a character building loss against top seed and eventual winners City Beach Bears. But good wins against Cronulla and Balmain meant a place in the quarter finals. Playing a very good Sunshine coast, ACT was in touch for most of this match but a couple of late heart breaking goals resulted in a 6-3 loss. Subsequent losses to Collegians and Melville meant a final placing of 8th. Most of the boys had been training together since May under Don Cameron who has done a wonderful job in improving both defence and offence and importantly in giving the boys the self-confidence to win games against good teams. While Don was unable to make it to the tournament, Lindsay Cotterill from Sydney University stepped in to coach the boys under Don s guidance.

4 ACT Fins had a successful and fun trip to Hobart to compete in the U16 National in late September/early October. Under the expert guidance of coach Mel Taylor, the nine players (Clarissa, Imogen, Satine, Sophie, Steph, Jaiha, Jasmine, Olivia and Ellie) competed to the best of their ability and should be proud of their efforts in bringing home the Bowl. After a tough start to the competition, going down to SNB Breakers and Melbourne Collegians in their group, the girls won the following five games to earn a place in the Bowl Final. In a nail-biter against Adelaide Jets, the girls claimed victory with a final score of 3-2. Outside the pool, the girls enjoyed some team bonding activities including an escape room experience, Salamanca Markets, snowball fights on Mount Wellington, putt-putt golf, a trip to Hobart s MONA and devouring lots of Milo. Announcement of Canberra Dolphins Coaches I am pleased to advise the following appointments. ACT Water Polo will work with the coaches to select Assistant Coaches, Team Manager and Referees. Please note ACT Water Polo was notified last week that all teams attending NSW State must bring with them a qualified referee who cannot be a player or support staff member of the team. This will cause some issues for our teams. Women Men SCWPL Head Coach Alicia McCormack Assistant Coach Matt Swarbrick 18U Matt Swarbrick 16U Melissa Taylor 14U Lara Kym-Lever 12U Lisa Wallace SCWPL Head Coach John Fox Assistant Coach Ryan McDermott 18U Ryan McDermott 16U Don Cameron 14U Kristy Donkin 12U Lisa Wallace

5 Upcoming events Tournament Dates Location & Venue U14 & U16 NSW State Junior Country Clubs Friday 24 - Sunday 26 November 2017 SOUTH COAST Bomaderry Aquatic Centre & Nowra Aquatic Park NSW State Country District Saturday 2 Sunday 3 SYDNEY U16 Girls NSW State Saturday 9 Tuesday 12 CENTRAL COAST Peninsular Leisure Centre U16 Boys NSW State Saturday 9 Tuesday 12 CENTRAL TABLELANDS Bathurst Aquatic Centre U14 Girls NSW State Monday 18 Friday 22 CENTRAL WEST Dubbo Aquatic Centre U14 Boys NSW State Monday 18 Friday 22 CENTRAL WEST Orange Aquatic Centre Southern Cross Water Polo League January to April 2018 Venues in Albury, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne, Sydney and Wagga over a 12 week period U18 NSW State Combined Club Friday 19 Sunday 21 January 2018 TBA Australian 12U National Aged Club Thursday 25 - Monday 29 January 2018 Wagga Wagga NSW Oasis Regional Aquatic Centre NSW State Country Friday 26 Sunday 28 January 2018 NEWCASTLE Lambton Pool ACT Water Polo Grand Final Day Saturday 24 March 2018 Civic Pool, Canberra

6 Australian 14U National Aged Club Wednesday 28 March to Monday 2 April 2018 Girls Albury/Wodonga Boys AIS, Canberra Australian 18U National Aged Club Wednesday 28 March to Monday 2 April 2018 Girls and Boys AIS, Canberra Southern Cross Water Polo League Finals Thursday 5 Sunday 8 April 2018 Melbourne/Sydney 18U Canberra Dolphins Boys and Girls Tour to USA and New Zealand encompassing the Pan Pacific June/July 2018 Los Angeles, San Francisco and Auckland NSW Festival of Water Polo Saturday 7- Wednesday 11 July 2018 TBC Sydney 15 th Pan Pacific Youth Water Polo Saturday 7 Tuesday 17 July 2018 Auckland, New Zealand Report on Australian Representative Players! Nick Taylor has just completed his European tour with the Australian B2000 Team. The team finished 3rd in Balnea Cup in Slovakia after coming up against Slovakia A/B, Germany and Hungary. They also finished 11 th in the Mediterranean Cup. Matt Wilson and Ryan McDermott (Assistant Coach/Manager) toured with the Australian born 2002 team to Montenegro & Serbia. The first leg of their trip was in Montenegro. They set up camp in Herceg Novi, located on the coast of Montenegro. For 7 days they participated in training in the morning and then a competition game each night against Montenegro, Croatia, Hungary, Italia and Germany. From here the team travelled to Belgrade, Serbia to participate in another tournament. The Darko čukić Memorial Trophy is an unofficial 15&U World and features 14 teams from around the world. Games were played at the Banjica Sports Centre, which is the home pool for one of Europe's best clubs, Partizan Belgrade.

7 Amsterdam, Budapest, Greece Born 2000 tour 22 July -12 August We met at the Qatar international airport for the-first time as our team and travelled to Amsterdam and started to train almost as soon as we landed. It was on!! The excitement for most to be traveling overseas to play a sport that we love and share as a common interest was and is an experience of a life time. The first thing we noticed was how they played and communicated as a team also what type of game they played and just exactly what we were matched up against. We had training games every day and during our mini tournament beat the Serbian team, even though we did suffer a few loses it was a learning experience and that s exactly what we hoped to gain. The standard of European water polo was amazing and to be given an opportunity to play against teams that play in international tournaments every other weekend, because it s possible to jump on a train or plane and be in another country gives them greater opportunities. Pythia Cup was staged in Itea, Greece, we were one of six teams including Russia, Serbia, Netherlands and Italy. This is why we were there and it was tough competition. The European teams are strong and this showed in their overall total fitness throughout the game, we learnt a lot about hydration and training and could see that we dropped off a bit towards the end. But as a team we played hard and matched the Greeks and Italians on the score boards. It should also be noted that the European countries love their polo and are very passionate about their games. We had so many opportunities to make new friends, see amazing places and rub shoulders with Greek olympic / survivors stars. Lily has also been selected to attend the Born 00 Camp in Sydney in January The camp will run from January Congratulations Lily! Upcoming event WPACT is pleased to announce that it has secured Mr Wayne Goldsmith to give a talk on Sports Parents at the Ainslie Football Club on Thursday 23rd November Wayne has over 25 years experience helping some of Australia's most successful businesses and sporting teams, including Macquarie Bank, LJ Hooker, the ARL, ARU, Sydney Roosters and Tennis Australia. Wayne has also worked with international sporting federations including USA Swimming, Sport NZ and many more. These presentations usually run into the several thousands of dollars, however, this presentation is open to all parents involved in WPACT and is FREE of charge. The presentation will take place at 6pm sharp at the Ainslie Football Club, 52 Wakefield Avenue Ainslie. Please confirm your attendance to Andrew Carney at vice-president@actwaterpolo.com by Monday 20th November.