INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY I NICOLA JOHNSON

When it comes to Water Polo in Australia, many people wear a lot of different hats in a bid to help grow and promote the sport. 

Nicola Johnson is among the group, amongst her roles she serves Water Polo Australia’s (WPA) General Manager of Competitions & Pathways as well as a leading international referee. 

A long time referee in the sport, she was one of a few women appointed to referee at the Tokyo Olympic Games, an opportunity she hopes more women will have the chance to participate in.

“It is good to see a lot more women at international events. When I first started refereeing internationally the majority of the competitions I went to I was the only female referee in attendance.  

“When I refereed at the WLSF in Spain at the end of last year, there were more women than men refereeing at that event, and the Gold Medal game was refereed by two female referees.  

“The FINA TWPC (now World Aquatics) are recognising and rewarding female referees for their good performances at international events and assigning them to medal games.  Last year the Cadet & Youth World Championships and WLSF Gold Medal games all had at least one female referee.  

“Younger referees seeing this happening at international events is giving them hope that if they keep working on their refereeing that they too can referee internationally and maybe a medal game based on performance,” she said. 

Domestically, Johnson said she has also seen a shift in women’s involvement, which she believes can only help encourage continued growth in the female ranks. 

“It is great to see a lot more women involved in all aspects of the sport, especially coaching and refereeing.  

“There have always been a lot of women who filled managerial roles with teams and roles on committees but there were not a lot of women refereeing and coaching.  

“I think that with more competitions and therefore more opportunities spread out over the year, women are able to see opportunities for themselves to referee and/or coach at a level they feel comfortable.  That could be at a club, school, state, national or international.

“There are also a lot of women in coaching taking on leadership roles within our NAGP as well as taking up leadership opportunities offered by the AIS,” she said. 

As part of Water Polo Australia’s Senior Management Team, which has 43% female representation, Johnson said it is critical to have female and male voices heard.

 “It is important to have equal presentation at all levels of sport from grassroots to the elite as there are approximately equal male and female participants across Australia.  

“Men and women both have so much to offer, and can bring different perspectives to discussions and decisions, so having all perspectives represented is vital.  Also it is important to have equal representation so that the men and women can learn from what each other have to offer and not feel like they don’t have a say,” she said.

Johnson is part of the team at WPA who are focused on ensuring diversity and equality is celebrated at all levels of the sport.   

“I think Water Polo in Australia is definitely doing a great job at advocating for women.  The number of women participating in all levels of water polo is increasing.  

“There is always room for more women at the high performance level, but the question to ask is that do the women apply for these roles and if they don’t apply, what is holding them back? We need to ask those questions and help reduce the barriers to getting involved,” she said.