WPWA advises members that the winter WA Performance Program (the program) delivered through Australian Water Polo League (AWL) licensee clubs, Melville WPC and UWA WPC, will not continue in 2025. Following the December 2024 release of Water Polo Australia’s (WPA) 2024-2032 High Performance Strategy, WPWA was advised in February 2025 that the $100k+ program would no longer be funded.

The program, originally designed following the 2019/20 season, was funded through WPA with high-performance funding and was a partnership between Water Polo Australia (WPA), Water Polo WA (WPWA), the WA Institute of Sport (WAIS), AWL Clubs Melville WPC and UWA WPC, and all WA Water Polo Clubs. Funding to clubs was used to employ Head Coaches over the winter period of May to September.

The program’s club-delivery-model principal purpose was to maximise the resources available in Western Australia and position WA as a leading water polo State in terms of performances at the national level, including AWL, National State Championships (NSC), and Australian Youth Water Polo Championships (AYWPC), and representation in National programs. Over time, the WAIS services program’s delivery was deemed not to be working and stopped in late 2022.

WPWA’s main role was to manage the program as part of a stakeholder management committee. In addition, WPWA administered WA state teams, relying heavily on the vital support of both the Southern (SPP) and Northern Performance Program (NPP) administrations. WPWA, the SPP, and the NPP coordinated the provision of state selection trials, state squad training, state coaches, and team management of State Teams during National State Championship campaigns.

The loss of the program and significant high-performance funding concerns everyone. WPWA will continue to work closely with program partners, specifically in the short term with the AWL clubs, other relevant clubs with National Program athletes, and WPA, to ensure adequate high-performance resourcing and support continue in new formats.

WPWA sincerely thanks Melville and UWA for their resource contributions and the respective SPP and NPP volunteer administrations for their time, efforts, and commitment to delivering this program for the last four seasons.

WPWA will soon release details of the 2025 winter program(s) and campaigns, including information regarding WA State representative teams.