WATER POLO AUSTRALIA ANNOUNCES PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

Published Mon 06 Mar 2023

Water Polo Australia (WPA) is pleased to announce the inaugural recipients of the Professional Development (PD) Scholarship program.

The PD Scholarship program is available to current senior squad and National Age Group Program members, as well as senior squad members from the past two years.

The program is designed to offer athletes professional development opportunities, and could include university degrees, vocational courses, short course or micro-credentials, virtual internships, registration or licensing, as well as flights and accommodation to complete any of the above.

In it’s pilot year, WPA is pleased to announce that three athletes have been selected as recipients of the scholarship.

Dual Olympian Lea Yanitsas, Aussie Stingers squad member Maddy Steere and Aussie Sharks’ Matthew Byrnes have all been named as recipients of the PD Scholarship for 2023.

The total funding pool of $10,000 will be split among the three successful applicants in year one, and is proudly supported by PKF Sydney and Newcastle and WPA Alumnus Nick Falzon.

Water Polo Australia CEO Richard McInnes offered his congratulations to the athletes, and thanked Nick and PKF for their support.

“On behalf of Water Polo Australia, I’d like to congratulate Lea, Maddy and Matt as our first recipients of the Professional Development Scholarship,” McInnes said.

“Our athletes continue to amaze us in pursuing their careers outside of the pool in parallel with the pursuit of excellence in the pool, and being able to work with PKF to support them financially is something we’re very proud of.

“I’d like to thank Nick and the team at PKF for their support, and look forward to watching Lea, Maddy and Matt continue to develop over the next 12 months,” he said.

WPA Alumnus and PKF Sydney and Newcastle Partner Nick Falzon said he was impressed with the calibre of applications for the program, and looks forward to working with Lea, Maddy and Mat over the next 12 months.

“I was very pleased by the high number of quality applications we received for the inaugural Professional Development Scholarship program,” Falzon said.

“They were not only very impressive and covered a wide range of endeavours and from a broad cross-section of the elite programs.

“There were so many that we would have loved to support, and we wish all the applicants the best but our three recipients were truly exceptional. We are excited to see what Lea Maddy and Matt can accomplish.

“This process and the interest from players and the broader community reinforced our excitement at being able to support this program,” he said.