Water Polo Australia announces Culture Innovation Panel

Water Polo Australia is pleased to announce the members of the Culture Innovation Panel.

Water Polo Australia’s vision is to make our sport your sport - wanting to create a deeper engagement with those already involved as well as attract new people to the game.

To make water polo accessible and inclusive to players and volunteers, our sport must provide an environment that existing and potential participants wish to be part of. The culture of our sport must demonstrate respect for people, both during and outside of the game, and be accepting of all backgrounds and customs.

With that view in mind, WPA has assembled a Culture Innovation Panel to define and create the culture we wish to see in Australian water polo.

After a lengthy application process, WPA is pleased to present the panel which has been assembled.

Dr Donna Barwood (WA)

Dr Barwood is a passionate advocate for unity in Water Polo and strengthening a positive sporting culture. She is a member-elected Director with Water Polo Western Australia (WA) and has experience playing water polo at various levels. Donna now plays as a social player for Phantoms Water Polo Club in WA and continues to coach a range of teams.

Donna is an Australian Award-winning Senior lecturer of Health and Physical Education (HPE), with extensive expertise in primary, secondary and tertiary education. She was the writer of the Australian Curriculum for HPE and is a published author; internationally recognised for research into health and wellbeing. In 2018 Donna was nationally recognised for her tireless contributions to Australian teachers of HPE via the honour of National Fellow from the Australian Council of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER).

Donna has held numerous Board, panel and committee positions in Sport and Education, and is a past President of the HPE teachers’ association in Western Australia. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience in governance, strategic planning, policy, and innovation. Donna’s critical involvement in cultural reviews for large organisations, theoretical and research insights into cultural change, and practical experiences as a participant and innovator are strengths to which she brings to Water Polo Australia’s Culture Innovation panel. Donna is super excited to be part of this very important project.

Charles Dane (ACT)

Charles is passionate about helping build a best practice culture within our sport.

Having worked in all facets of water polo, from administration to coaching, playing and now as an AWL referee, he knows how crucial a positive sporting culture is and where we need to improve. Pushing water polo to be even more accessible and inclusive for players and volunteers is incredibly important in making the culture in our sport something of which we can be proud.

Water polo has come so far in reaching out to the LGBTIQA+ communities in Australia. We often lead the way in representation and community participation but there is so much more to be done. Charles is proud to represent one of these communities on this panel and am excited to work towards an even safer environment for all communities in our sport.

Bernadette Fay (NSW)

Bernadette Fay has worked in the health and education sectors as a lawyer, investigator and senior executive in change management. She has provided corporate governance advice to government, NGOs and community groups in navigating post royal commission child safety culture and systems. She has worked pro bono for sports and community based groups, providing expertise in legal, child protection and high performance cultures. She has a son who proudly plays for the Sydney Rays.

Jarrod Gilchrist (NSW)

Jarrod has been a member of teams and clubs across 3 States in Australia and participated in the high-performance programs of the VIS, WAIS and NSWIS. At a national league level he played over 250 games since debuting in 2007. Additionally, he was a member of the Australian National Program from 2008 to 2020 playing over 100 international games including 3 world championships and the Rio Olympics. He also spent a season playing professionally in Italy and has spent time refereeing and coaching at national junior level.

Through his range of experiences in the sport of water polo he has experienced a wide range of cultural diversity and environment, and believes has developed core values that create a positive culture. These experiences have transferred to his professional career where he manage teams of up to 50 people across a range of settings to support and build strong culture of team work, respect and compassion.

Kevin Knapp (WA)

Kevin brings experience in high performance sport participation, coaching and management to this role as well as 10 years working in the not for profit (charity sector). In all these experiences, success has come from the creation of a positive culture founded on lived values of decency, honesty, and integrity.

Kevin has been involved in sport at a level where “winning at all costs” often challenges some of the founding values of sportsmanship, integrity, and honesty.

He is committed to sharing his experiences, good and bad, for the purpose of identifying, shaping, and sustaining a culture within our sport that brings out the best in everyone. Critical is allocating time and resources to this very important space.

Scott Nicholson (NSW)

Scott has been involved in water polo for over 20 years as a player, coach, referee, tournament organiser and manager. As a player, he played AWL for over 15 seasons in 248 games for many years as part of the leadership group. Scott represented Australia in water polo at a Junior and University level and also represented Australia in Beach Handball between 2013 – 2019, again in a leadership position. In business Scott founded Beach Water Polo Fours in 2017, adapting the rules of Beach Handball to suit our sport and providing a fun and social atmosphere for current, past and new players as an outlet for modified participation in water polo.

Melinda Poor (WA)

Melinda is a parent to five athletes including four current Water Polo players, two of whom are in national pathway programs. Melinda has developed a deep love for water polo after spending many hours over the last twelve years watching her children play, travelling to national events and supporting them as athletes to help them reach their goals.

Melinda is currently employed by the WA Department of Premier and Cabinet as an aide to a member of the WA Legislative Council. She has extensive experience in government, legislation and funding and understands the importance of good governance in modern sport, both for the integrity of individual sports, and as a tool to better support performance.

Melinda is passionate about sharing the wonderful experiences that her children have had in Water Polo to help grow the sport in Australia. She believes that Water Polo is a sport that adds enormous value to our community.

Melinda has been a team manager, and club committee member in Water Polo, Gridiron and Rugby League in WA and she understands the unique challenges of smaller sports in a crowded sport environment.

Melinda believes that engendering a great culture in a sporting organisation has significant benefits for all involved. Recognising the vital part that sport plays in the daily lives of the people involved, including players, coaches, spectators and supporters.

Ian Shuttleworth (SA)

Ian is a highly motivated executive with well over two decades of sports and media industry experience. He has led AFL club the Adelaide Crows’ strategic overhaul of fan engagement and content creation, while building sports industry leading video production capability. This includes establishing AFC Media, which is a production house offering a full suite of services, as well as the Club’s very own free-to-air television shows.

A former multi-award-winning journalist, Ian has vast television and radio experience across on-air and leadership roles in Australia and abroad, including more than a decade at Network Ten. He has worked across a wide range of national and international sporting competitions, events and broadcasts, including Olympic and Commonwealth Games, Formula One, AFL and cricket, among many others.

Ian has an in-depth understanding of elite and amateur sporting environments, sports administration and high performance principles, digital and broadcast media, content creation and distribution, social media platforms, media and crisis management, and public relations.

With a daughter now actively involved in junior water polo in South Australia, Ian is eager to contribute to enhancing the culture within the sport and creating an environment in which athletes, coaches, administrators and volunteers of all ages can thrive and fulfil their potential and aspirations.

Emma Steele (VIC)

Emma has played water polo since the age of 14 and has been a member of Footscray Swimming and Water Polo Club for over 20 years. She has served on the club's general committee since 2013 and was elected in 2019 as Footscray's first ever female President. Her involvement with Footscray Water Polo has driven her passion for equitable, inclusive and fun community sport. She strongly believes in the need to create and promote a positive, welcoming and respectful culture in our sport, and that everyone - from our national body to individual participants - can play their part in improving our culture.

Coming from a professional background as a radiographer, Emma completed a Master of Public Health in 2017 and is currently working in change management for a major Digital Health Project at Western Health. Emma’s professional experience has given her a solid foundation in organisational governance, leadership and culture-building. She is excited about collaborating with this panel to help improve the culture of our sport.

Jill Thaivarayan (QLD)

Jill is an organisational change manager with diverse experience spanning more than 20 years. Her experience is varied, from embedding new cultures and values, to fostering behavioural changes, across both the private and public sectors. She has managed people through whole-of-business changes and transformations as well as implemented targeted improvements in specific work groups. In every case, her focus and passion is to build the capabilities of people internal to an organisation, so the changes ‘stick’ and they continue to achieve benefits in the long term.

Inside the world of sport, she has seen the absolute difference culture can make in terms of successful participation and reputation. Jill is excited to be part of Water Polo Australia’s efforts to really focus on culture and elevate the profile of this fantastic sport across our water-loving nation. Creating a great culture at the core of this sport will undoubtedly have a ripple effect across both states and clubs. She can’t wait to share her skills and experience along with others on the panel to help be part of the result.

Marc Thompson (NSW)

Marc Thompson has 17 years of experience consulting to many organisations in a wide variety of industries across the globe. For the last 13 years he held the role of Executive Director APAC and EMEA for the Gallup Organisation – a research-based management consulting firm. As a core part of his role, he oversaw large-scale culture transformation engagements in addition to leadership development, performance management and employee / customer and experience programs. He is a Strengths Performance Coach and facilitator and continues to help many organisations shape and develop Strengths Based Cultures. He is currently employed as the Head of Employee Experience, APJ at Qualtrics - the world’s leading Experience Management company that leverages data, technology and advisory solutions to help organisations maximise employee, customer, product and brand experience. Clients have included multiple national sporting and membership-based organisations that engage across a variety of dispersed and critical stakeholders.

In addition to his corporate experience, Marc has been actively involved with youth development and active participation across many areas, including as a Personal Development, Health and Physical Education teacher, team sports coach and Youth and Education Services Manager at the Australian Red Cross. He also ran a youth development and leadership company for international students between 1998 and 2009.

Having never played water polo himself due to limited access, but as a passionate parent of junior players, Marc hopes his contribution on the WPA Culture Innovation Panel can make a difference towards increased participation and memorable experiences for all who engage with the sport of Water Polo.