Water Polo Australia Events Update for 2022

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as current State border closures and restrictions, has required Water Polo Australia to review the upcoming national events calendar.

Working in consultation with stakeholders including State Associations and taking into account health orders across the country, the below decisions have been made.

CHANGE DATE & LOCATION - 2022 Australian Youth Water Polo Championships

Originally slated to be held in Perth, WA across two weeks in January, the event will now return to Brisbane, Queensland across five days, 14-18 April 2022 (Easter School Holidays).

Perth will instead host the 2023 Australian Youth Water Polo Championships over two weeks at a date yet to be confirmed.

While Water Polo Australia recognises this may impact Club’s pre-arranged travel requirements and also be very disappointing for members from the previous host State of Western Australia, WPA has been monitoring the current travel advice, various State Government announcements around easing of border closures and has made the decision to relocate to Brisbane in 2022.

Given the compressed nature of the event with all teams competing over 5 days Brisbane provides sufficient access to pools to allow this to happen.

Set to be held across more venues than previous years, WPA is keen to understand which teams are interested in attending in 2022. Expressions of interest are now open, closing on November 17 2021 - click here.

Additional changes will also be that only three age groups will be contested at the 2022 AYWPC, with the 12&U age group removed on a one-off basis and that athletes and coaches will only be permitted to play/coach in one age group.

Water Polo Australia CEO Richard McInnes, said that thanks to the cooperation of strategic event partners such as the Western Australian Government via Tourism WA (TWA) as well as Queensland Government via Tourism & Events Queensland (TEQ) and Brisbane City Council via Brisbane Economic Development Agency (BEDA), the long-term future of the AYWPC remains secure.

“Our plan was to have the Australian Youth Water Polo Championships in Perth in 2022 and return to Brisbane in 2023. But thanks to our partners in both Western Australia and Queensland, we have been able to switch those years, and move to April to provide us with every chance of being able to deliver the 2022 AYWPC given the ongoing travel restrictions,” said McInnes.

“COVID-19 continues to impact so many sports at the grassroots and elite levels and we are working collaboratively with our State Associations to develop strategies to provide maximum opportunities for people to still enjoy organised sport," he said.

The 2022 Australian Youth Water Polo Championships will be held in Brisbane, Queensland from 14-18 April.

The 2023 Australian Youth Water Polo Championships will be held in Perth, Western Australia with dates to be confirmed.

UPDATE - National State Championships

As previously announced, the 2021 Water Polo Australia National State Championships had already been postponed once and WPA are now pleased to announce that the National State Championships will now be held in Brisbane in January 2022.

The National State Championships will take place in Brisbane from 10-20 January.. The age groups have now been updated to accommodate the shift into 2022, however it is the same athletes who were due to compete in September and December 2021, respectively.

The 16&U (Born 2006 and younger) and 18&U (2004and younger) National State Championships will be held from January 10 to 13 and be followed by a Cadet and Youth National Age Group Camp.

The 20U (Born 2002 and younger) National State Championships will be held from January 17 to 20. Two National Youth Teams will also participate in the 20U event following their camp.

More information will be distributed via the State Associations in the coming weeks.

Water Polo Australia intends to hold the 2022 National State Championships as planned in September 2022.

2022 Australian Waterpolo League

Water Polo Australia are working towards delivering a full competition for the upcoming 2022 Australian Water Polo League.

WPA will continue to monitor the COVID-19 restrictions and border closures, and have a number of contingencies in place to ensure the 2022 AWL can be delivered safely.

There are plenty of exciting additions to be introduced in the 2022 season with a full update to be made within the month.