Water Polo Australia welcomes Federal Government's investment into high performance sport

Water Polo Australia has today welcomed the news over the weekend that the Federal Government will invest $54.5 million in sport.

Yesterday Federal Minister for Sport, Senator the Hon Richard Colbeck made the announcement, providing high performance sports with more certainty leading into the Tokyo Olympic Games.

With $50.6m allocated over two years, the funding enables the AIS to maintain baseline support for national sporting organisations (NSOs), thereby providing certainty for Olympic hopefuls.

Water Polo Australia CEO, Richard McInnes, said the positive news comes at a great time for sport.

“As sport across the country looks to resume, so to are our high performance programs and this investment from the Federal Government provides a great boost.

“While we are yet to understand the specific details about how this will benefit water polo, it does provide us with more confidence around funding leading into the Tokyo Olympic Games.

“We would like to thank the AIS and Sport Australia collectively for the hard work that has gone into securing this funding with support from Australian Olympic Committee, Paralympic Committee and Commonwealth Games Australia. The combined commitment to supporting sport by our leaders has provided sport with a great voice during these difficult times.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic so many people and industries have been impacted and sport is no different. I want to commend our athletes and high performance staff during these uncertain and challenging times for once again showing resilience.

“We have over a year to go until the Tokyo Olympics and our team is preparing strategies for how our squads can prepare for the Games, while our environments remain uncertain.

“We look forward to working with the AIS, AOC and our State Institutes as we work towards Tokyo,” he said.

ASC Chair John Wylie said the additional investment is a huge boost for Australia’s high performance system.

“No sector has been immune to fallout as a result of COVID-19 but our Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games sports have been doing it really tough,” Wylie said.

“I’d like to thank Minister Colbeck and the Federal Government for the strong support through this and a range of other measures.

“I am also incredibly proud of the work our own team has been doing day in-day out, together with our sport partners to work through these challenging times. This is fantastic news for those athletes and coaches who have just returned to training and striving for success in the green and gold next year and beyond.

“Sport is a foundation of the Australian way of life and at the ASC, we are passionate about helping athletes - at all levels - be the best they can.”

The AIS also continues its significant commitment to a range of key areas in high performance sport, including Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement, assistance for emerging and talented athletes through Pathways programs, and its partnership with the National Institute Network, through the National High Performance Sport Strategy.