Water Polo Australia welcomes Benn Lees as U20 Women's Coach

Water Polo Australia is pleased to announce Benn Lees as the Head Coach for the Australian 20&U Women’s squad.

With decades of experience, Lees is currently the Head Coach of the Queensland Academy of Sport Water Polo (Women) and Queensland Thunder Women’s side.

He previously served as Head Coach of Australian junior men’s teams as well as Assistant Coach of the Australian senior men’s program from 2001-2004.

Water Polo Australia High Performance Manager, Aleksandr Osadchuk, said Benn will ably guide the next generation of women’s water polo athletes.

“We are very pleased to welcome Benn to our national coaching network for our junior Australian squads, with demonstrated experience at a Club, State and National level,” said Osadchuk.

“Our 20&U Women’s squad will need to prepare for a World Championships in 2021 and while the current environment during COVID-19 is uncertain, there is still plenty of planning and athlete engagement that will need to be carried out to ensure Australia is best prepared.

“Benn has a proven track record in delivery, including recently steering the Queensland Thunder Women’s side to a maiden victory at the 2019 OVO Australian Waterpolo League, after bringing together different local clubs together as one team,” he said.

For Lees, he’s very much looking forward to working with players from across the country as they build towards the FINA Junior World Championships.

“It is an honour to be chosen to guide this group of athletes to a Junior World Championships. I am most looking forward to establishing strong relationships with the players and being involved with developing a strong culture based around selflessness, respect, humility, determination and confidence,” said Lees.

“Australia is fortunate to have a very strong talent pool in this age group. There are a number of eligible athletes who competed at the last Junior World Championships in 2019 and many others who have performed well in the Australian Waterpolo League. 

“But we know that talent will only get us so far. We need full commitment from each athlete to constantly strive to improve physically, technically, tactically and mentally,” he said.

While all high performance sport review return to train and play protocols, Lees said there will be a number of strategies he’ll look to implement with the squad, quickly. 

“The first priority will be to talk with each member of the squad via online video to establish a connection as well as work with clubs and NIN coaches to help in monitoring each athletes progress.

“Taking a collaborative approach with Clubs, NIN and State networks, Water Polo Australia will develop a plan involving training camps and competition, this will be communicated to all squad members,” he said.

The U20 Women’s squad is set to be announced in the coming weeks.