Water Polo Australia (WPA) is the national

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

for

Water Polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

in Australia, headquartered in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. WPA in its current form was formed in 1982, when it broke away from the Amateur Swimming Union of Australia (now

Swimming Australia Swimming Australia is the peak governing body for competitive swimming in Australia. The body has approximately 100,000 registered members nationally in 1100 clubs across the country, which includes swimmers, coaches, officials, administrators ...

) to become the Australian Amateur Water Polo Association (AAWPA). Prior to that time, water polo was administered by a sub-committee of the ASUA. In January 1990 the AAWPA changed its name to 'Water Polo Australia Incorporated'. Water Polo Australia oversees the men's, women's, and youth national teams in Australia, the national coaching programs, and the seven state governing bodies of the sport. It also conducts the Australian Water Polo League, the country's premier national Water Polo competition, and holds annual national junior club and interstate representative championships. WPA is governed by a national conference of representatives from all states and territories, which elect six Directors to the WPA Board. Water polo is one of a small number of truly national sports in Australia, with the game being played by both men and women across every state.

History

Behind Great Britain, Australia was the second nation in the world to play the game of water polo. The first known Australian match occurred at St. Kilda Baths, Melbourne on 3 March 1879 and was demonstrated by Professor Fred Cavill, who had only just emigrated from England. Australian men's teams have competed at every Olympic Games Water Polo Tournament since 1948, excepting 1968 (controversially not nominated by the AOC) and 1996 (did not qualify). Australia's women's team, the Aussie Stingers, were the inaugural Olympic gold medallists at the first Women's Olympic Games Water Polo Tournament in

(2000), and have since won two Olympic bronze medals at

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

(2008) and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

(2012). The first history of the sport in Australia was launched in February 2009, under the title 'Water Warriors: Chronicle of Australian Water Polo', by Dr. Tracy Rockwell. The 592-page publication features over 1,300 images and is an in-depth reference on water polo in Australia from its first match in 1879 to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. An updated edition is being planned.

Administration

Water Polo in Australia uses a federated model of national, states and territory governing bodies. A number of local associations and regional zones exist within the states and territories to support the sport's growth and development throughout Australia. Alongside WPA, seven state and territory bodies oversee the conduct of their relevant local and state level competition. They are: * Water Polo New South Wales * Water Polo Queensland * Water Polo Victoria * Water Polo ACT * Water Polo South Australia * Water Polo Western Australia * Water Polo Tasmania.

Competitions

Water Polo Australia organises and oversees a number of competitions, with state-based competitions organised by the respective state governing authorities. * Australian Water Polo League * Australian Youth Water Polo Championships * National State Championships * WPA Country Championships * U13 National Development Carnival

References

External links

Water Polo Australia
{{Authority control Water polo in Australia

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Wat A wat (, ; , ; , ; ; , ) is a type of Buddhist and Hindu temple in Cambodia, Laos, East Shan State (Myanmar), Yunnan (China), the Southern Province of Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Etymology The word ''wat'' is borrowed from the Sanskrit ''v ...

1982 establishments in Australia Sports organizations established in 1982

History

Administration

Competitions

See also

References

External links