With low participation in the highest grades, bottoming out of the senior competition in lowest grades as well as drop off in junior participation from 16 years, Water Polo WA initiated a competition restructure that considered competition standards and opportunities to play the sport, across Western Australia.

Beginning with broad stakeholder engagement and guided by an independent working group, the review included working group sessions, surveys and feedback from parents, coaches, clubs, and associations.

Following the consultation, Water Polo WA has released key recommendations, including staged introductions of key items that require lead time for clubs to prepare for implementation. The recommended changes are for three years, from 2025 – 2028. It is acknowledged that for growth some clubs will require transitional provisions in order to meet targets.

Water Polo WA conducted a review to address water polo’s growing needs, providing opportunities for all stakeholders to participate. Key areas included competition structures and pathways for metropolitan and regional players.

It was important that Water Polo WA invited all stakeholders to get involved and have their say in helping shape the sport going forward.

A Working Group was set up to conduct a series of consultation workshops and surveys were made available to stakeholders, including parents, coaches, club administrators and regional associations.

Members of the Working Group:

• Fiona Houston
• Mark Balenzuela
• Phil Scales
• Simon Devine
• CEO Lorraine Donachie
• Competition Coordinator Victoria Vykopal

Following consultation, Water Polo has introduced a new competition format with phased implementation from 2025.

Strategic objectives included:

• Achieve six teams per gender in A Grade seniors.
• Improve girls participation in A and B grade junior 16s and 18s.
• Increase opportunities to play with introduction of new events.
• Cultural shift towards longer-term development of the sport over short-term wins.
• Improve overall quality of competitions, parity, and encourage growth in participation.
• Provide means of splitting leagues to account for differing ability, with added incentives for promotion.

Recommendations included:

Competition Format & Structure

• Perth Water Polo League (PWL): An extended A Grade level competition opportunities from October until March and from 2026 a re-introduction of A Reserves as a development grade (age 19-25).
• Promotion over Relegation: in 2025 emphasis on upward mobility and even grading across senior leagues.
• Composite Teams: Opportunities for non PWL club players to play in PWL, with priority to Premiership Clubs.

Grading and Divisions

• Senior league split: into Division One (A-C Grades) and Division Two (D-F Grades) with caps on team entries to promote talent distribution. Added incentives to encourage aim for promotion.
• Renaming: WA Senior League and WA Junior League, with removal of ‘State’ from league names.
• 12s A Grade:  introduction of A Grade for lowest age group to help manage varied ability from larger to smaller clubs.
• Introduction of Development League for B Grade juniors.
• Third Division in juniors from 2028 to incorporate growth, schools participants and country junior rounds.

Player Pathways

• From 2026 Player Point System: establish in longer term, a tiered classification model to manage elite player distribution, reward loyalty, and support club parity.
• Increased opportunity and incentive for country players to participate in metro competition
• Junior Age Groups: Shift to year-of-birth alignment for consistency with national competitions.
• State Team Players: Expected to play in A Grade juniors, not in Development League.
• State Championships: January event. Provides more opportunities to play; includes country juniors. Preparation for Australian Youth Championships.
• WA Schools League and Schools Cup event: increase opportunities to engage more people playing the sport; enhance school competitions with State cup.
• Junior Country Cup: From 2027, for players of Country Associations.

Governance and Administration

• Decentralised Delivery Model: From 2026–27, junior competitions to be hosted across multiple venues.
• Committee Renewal: Updates to Competition Advisory Group (CAG) and High Performance Committee (HPC) to align with WPA frameworks.
• League Club Standards: All clubs to be working towards standards expected of level of participation. PWL standards – First Team per gender, 1x A Reserve team; 1-2x B Grade team(s) per gender, A grade teams in all junior grades. Standards to be further developed across all competitions.

Equity and Inclusion

• Team Caps: Promote equality and development across clubs. Phased implementation of grade maximums of two teams per club in seniors and three teams per club in juniors.
• Culture shift: Clubs shift focus to development of long-term goals over short term wins. Clubs to fill teams from top whilst prioritising skill and ability, quality of play, and player enjoyment.
• Country Engagement: Discounts for country teams, hosting opportunities, and inclusion in metro competitions.
• Masters & Social Leagues: Introduction of 40+ men’s competition and Winter Social League (July–Sept).

Scheduling & Logistics

• Live Scoring: Trial in 2025–26; livestreaming reserved for PWL finals.
• Venue Use: Bicton confirmed as primary host for PWL; Perth HPC and others as needed. Venue Host Agreements to boost fan experience and maximise engagement. Various venues required for other competitions.

Referees and Officials

• WPWA Referee numbers: identified need to continually develop more accredited referees willing and available to referee at all levels of competition.
• Pathways: important to provide opportunities for developing referees to improve skill and ability
• Rates of pay: Circa 60% of games and junior and senior levels a refereed by a Development or Advanced level referee. Need to re-assess rates of pay to incentivise club referee participation.
• Payments: Ongoing awareness and education of use of Refbook platform for automated referee payments.