AUSTRALIAN WATERPOLO LEAGUE COMMUNITY TO CELEBRATE INDIGENOUS ROUND

The Australian Water Polo League (AWL) community is set to come together this weekend in celebration of the official AWL Indigenous round, with twenty games set to take place across the country.

For head coach of the Drummoyne Devils men’s team and Indigenous Olympian Dean Semmens, the round is an important step forward.

“I think Indigenous round is a fantastic initiative from the AWL, especially on the back of Water Polo Australia recently launching the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). It’s great to see the League supporting something so close to my heart,” said Semmens.

“Having initiatives like Indigenous round and also the Deadly Polo pilot that we ran at the Australian Youth Water Polo Championships earlier this year will hopefully get more indigenous people involved in the sport, whether that be as players or administrators. 

“This might also help us raise awareness and shine a light on Indigenous kids who are already playing that we may not know about.

It will really open up some opportunities for more people to come and get involved in the sport, and I think with this being the first year, we can only improve and make the round bigger and better each year,” he said.

Semmens is one of three Indigenous water polo players to play for Australia and is thrilled to see the Australian water polo community coming together in support, both in the AWL and more generally.

“The team obviously knows my background and are very supportive of the RAP work that we’ve done,” said Semmens.

“I know as well that the Aussie Sharks boys in our team love the indigenous cozzies that were done up at the start of the year.

“Our club is planning a few special things for Sunday at our home game in order to recognise the round. Hopefully they will bring more awareness to the round in general but also speak to anyone in the crowd who might have an indigenous background,” he said.

With the Australian Water Polo League officially past the halfway point of the 2024 season, competition is heating up as teams look to secure their positions on the ladder.

The Drummoyne Devils are currently atop the leaderboard in the men’s league, with Semmens noting the team has performed well so far this season.

“We’ve had a pretty good run so far with ten from ten games, but we’re only halfway through the season and have a long way to go. 

“This weekend will probably be one of our biggest tests as we play Wests on Saturday over at Ashfield. Them and Sydney Uni are right on our tail at the moment, there’s not much between the top few teams.

To view a list of fixtures for this weekend and catch up on the results so far this season, click HERE.

Two games will be broadcast LIVE this Sunday March 17 from Peter Montgomery Pool at the University of Sydney.

2:30pm (AEST) - Sydney Uni Lions v UTS Balmain Tigers (Women)
4pm (AEST) - Sydney Uni Lions v UTS Balmain Tigers (Men)

To watch the live stream, click HERE.