AUSTRALIAN WATERPOLO LEAGUE & AUSTRALIAN YOUTH WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIPS READY TO GO 

Water Polo Australia (WPA) has given the green light for the Australian Waterpolo League (AWL) and Australian Youth Water Polo Championship (AYWPC) to proceed in Brisbane, kicking off at the end of the month. 

After a review and assessment of current risks, WPA has deemed that both events will be able to be delivered in a COVID safe way, working within the Queensland Health guidelines. As of 13 March, the Queensland Government eased some coronavirus restrictions as planned.

Water Polo Australia CEO, Richard McInnes, said after monitoring the current COVID risks and restrictions, WPA feels confident in the ability for both events to proceed, but will continue to monitor the situation ongoing. 

“After several months of planning and working with Brisbane City Council and Queensland Government, as well as Water Polo Queensland and the local venue operators, WPA feels confident in our ability to deliver the Australian Youth Water Polo Championships and Australian Waterpolo League in a COVID safe way. 

“Both events will be delivered in a very different format to previous years including limiting the movement of people between venues, timetabling of draws to reflect venue movements, ensuring COVID safe marshalls are in place and requiring people to adhere to the new everyday requirements we have become accustomed to such as maintaining physical distancing where possible, regularly washing hands and using the venue check in to support contact tracing. 

“While we recognise that not all teams and supporters feel comfortable travelling just yet, there is a strong interest from Clubs to participate in the Australian Youth Water Polo Championships, we wanted to give people something to look forward to and be part of. 

“It's the first time in more than 12 months we can bring together our water polo community from across the country.

“We have had to look at how we deliver things differently.  The outcome will be a three week water polo festival in the centre of Brisbane that brings together our two marquee events, the Australian Waterpolo League and Australian Youth Water Polo Championships,” he said.

While the news will come as an exciting one for the water polo community, McInnes emphasised it won’t be a time to be complacent. 

“We will be sharing a lot of information with Clubs and participants ahead of both events about taking COVID safe measures so that we all do our part to reduce the risk.

“There will be a lot to celebrate and we have many announcements coming up over the next few days. But we will be calling on all participants to make COVID safety a priority,” he said. 

For full details of the Queensland Government’s roadmap to easing of restrictions - click here. 

To find out more about the Australian Waterpolo League & Australian Youth Championships, including how to make the most of your time in Brisbane, visit waterpoloaustralia.com.au 

The Australian Water Polo League will be held from 31 March - 7 April. The Australian Youth Water Polo Championships will see the 14&U and 18&U held from 7-11 April and the 12&U and 16&U taking place from 13-17 April 2021.

What’s next?

• Australian Youth Water Polo Championships 
  • Club Entries - Invoices will be issued to Clubs on Wednesday 17 March. 
  • Club Technical - the first Technical Meeting for Clubs will be held on Wednesday 17 March at 7:30pm AEDT. 1 person per Club is asked to attend.  However if a Club representative is unavailable, the pack with all information will be provided post meeting. Webinar link will be sent to all Clubs prior to Wednesday 
  • Draws - will be released on Friday 19 March. 

Reminder Queensland Blue Cards - any volunteer officials or paid personnel attending the Australian Waterpolo League and/or Australian Youth Water Polo Championships, who will be in Queensland for MORE THAN 7 DAYS are required to have a Queensland Blue Card (Working with Children Check).  Click here for full details.