Newsletter November 2017
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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 2018. 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 24th November 2017. 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 email [email protected] Congratulations to our 16U teams who recently competed in the National Aged Club Championships. 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 2017. For more details regarding fixtures and results go to the ACT Water polo Face book page https://www.facebook.com/waterpoloact/?fref=ts 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 2017. 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 5.45-7.00am. Players who participate will be invoiced $10 per session they attend at the end of each term. If you have any queries please email [email protected] 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. 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. ACT Fins had a successful and fun trip to Hobart to compete in the U16 National Championships 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 Championships 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 SCWPL – Head Coach – John Fox Assistant Coach – Matt Swarbrick Assistant Coach – Ryan McDermott 18U – Matt Swarbrick 18U – Ryan McDermott 16U – Melissa Taylor 16U – Don Cameron 14U – Lara Kym-Lever 14U – Kristy Donkin 12U – Lisa Wallace 12U – Lisa Wallace Upcoming events Tournament Dates Location & Venue SOUTH COAST U14 & U16 NSW State Friday 24 - Sunday 26 Bomaderry Aquatic Centre & Junior Country Clubs November 2017 Nowra Aquatic Park NSW State Country Saturday 2 – Sunday 3 SYDNEY District December 2017 U16 Girls NSW State Saturday 9 – Tuesday 12 CENTRAL COAST Club Championships December 2017 Peninsular Leisure Centre U16 Boys NSW State Saturday 9 – Tuesday 12 CENTRAL TABLELANDS Club Championships December 2017 Bathurst Aquatic Centre U14 Girls NSW State Monday 18 – Friday 22 CENTRAL WEST Club Championships December 2017 Dubbo Aquatic Centre U14 Boys NSW State Monday 18 – Friday 22 CENTRAL WEST Club Championships December 2017 Orange Aquatic Centre Venues in Albury, Canberra, Hobart, Southern Cross Water January to April 2018 Melbourne, Sydney and Polo League Wagga over a 12 week period U18 NSW State Friday 19 – Sunday 21 Combined Club TBA January 2018 Championships Australian 12U Wagga Wagga Thursday 25 - Monday 29 National Aged Club NSW Oasis Regional Aquatic January 2018 Championships Centre NSW State Country Friday