Junior World Championships Update

Water Polo Australia has made the difficult decision that Australian Junior (20U) representative teams will not be undertaking overseas tours in 2021.

The National Age Group Program (NAGP), in particular the Junior (20U) programs, are very important for the future preparation of our Australian Olympic Teams and this view remains consistent.

However, the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, along with the current challenges of international travel, constant changing environment with returning travellers as well as quarantine requirements, makes any non essential travel overseas challenging and expensive.

Given the circumstances, WPA do not believe it would be responsible nor prudent to send the Junior Australian teams overseas this year.

WPA CEO Richard McInnes said the organisation has been monitoring the situation very closely and is disappointed to come to this conclusion.

“We have been keeping a close eye on the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, and have been in regular consultation with medical professionals and our Chief Medical Officer,’ McInnes said.

“We had been cautiously optimistic of the Junior World Championships being a possibility for our Australian teams, however recent developments have proved that this cannot be the case.

“This was not an easy decision to make, however the safety of our staff, coaches and players remains of the utmost priority.

“We recognise the hard work that these athletes have put into the program, and will be doing everything we can to ensure they are provided with opportunities domestically.

“We hope that in 2022 we will once again be able to compete internationally,” he said.