2011-12 Annual Report - Australian Water Polo Inc

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WATER POLO AUSTRALIA 2011/12 ANNUAL REPORT 16 Pan Pacific Championships, Melbourne After a hard fought finals match, Australia went down to USA in an unfortunate loss in a very successful competition held in Melbourne. In a down to the line match USA defeated Australia 10- 11. Australia had two teams compete – Australia A and the Barbarians. Both showed exceptional form and were a credit to the talent we have in Australia. Australia Joel Dennerley Richie Campbell Aaron Younger Sam McGregor Rhys Howden Thomas Whalan Anthony Martin James Clark Gavin Woods Billy Miller Samuele Avallone Tim Cleland Jamie Beadsworth All Stars Game The All Stars tradition continued in 2012 with the second Andrew Kerr Cup being played in front of a huge crowd at the u18 National Club Championships with the victory going to the Northern team. The two teams were: Barbarians John Hahn Rob Maitland Johnno Cotterill James Howden Mitch Baird Aidan Roach Joel Swift Daniel Lawrence Blake Edwards Dan Young Jarrod Gilchrist Luke Quinlivan Matt Martin Scott Carpenter Thomas Bruder in Shanghai, China and Chiba, Japan. Once again it is testament to the depth of our program that we were able to go through the tournament undefeated. World League Super Finals, Almaty, Kazakhstan Australia finished in 7th place at the World League Super Finals after a defiant win against Brazil in the final match defeating them 13-2. In the knock-out phase Australia suffered two narrow defeats to the USA and Kazakhstan. Had things been different, the team probably would have been in medal contention but in the final match the team showed they were strong mentality, playing with maximum concentration and at full speed resulting in the win over Brazil. Eight Nations “Cosenza Trophy”, Cosenza, Italy In a five day tournament against a strong group of Olympic class competitors, Australia finished fifth. Australia defeated Kazakhstan and Canada, drew with Greece and went down to Italy and Montenegro. Olympic Games, London Following the training camps and tournaments attended throughout the year the final selection for the 2012 London Olympic Games was decided at the end of June. Goal Keepers Joel Dennerley James Clark Field Players Jamie Beadsworth Richie Campbell Tim Cleland Johnno Cotterill Rhys Howden Sam McGregor These players provided weekly updates and reports of matches played which made for great reading on the AWPI website. Acknowledgements The list is long and there are many people who work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure success of the men’s program. Below are the key people who have worked closely with the program in the preparation for the Olympic Games. Coaches Head Coach John Fox who led the program and squad towards the Olympic Games. The work done by John in this past year has been very detailed to ensure a good preparation for the Aussie Sharks in London. Assistant Coaches Paul Oberman and Frank Otto who have worked alongside John in preparing the athletes for London. State Institute and Academy Coaches Paul Oberman, Chris Wybrow, Simon Daley, Dalibor Maslan and Eddie Denis, who have supported the national program and athletes in the daily training environments. Support Staff Team Managers Jon Harmer and Garry Rydberg, Sports Medicine Coordinator and Physio Ian Gard, Doctor Grace Bryant, Sport Science Coordinator and Video Analysis Andrew Yanitsas and Sport Psychologies Jonah Oliver. All of whom have provide their expertise to the program over the past 12 months. Southern Jamie Beadsworth Thomas Bruder Scott Carpenter Tim Cleland Northern Samuele Avallone Mitch Baird Richie Campbell James Clark Billy Miller Aidan Roach Thomas Whalan Gavin Woods Aaron Younger Blake Edwards Trent Franklin Daniel Lawrence Matt Martin Sam McGregor Luke Quinlivan Joel Swift Thomas Whalan Carl Zvekan Johnno Cotterill Joel Dennerley James Howden Rhys Howden Anthony Martin Tyler Martin Billy Miller Gavin Woods Dan Young Overseas Development The opportunity for players to play professionally overseas was again a highlight of the men’s program. 15 players from various levels of the men’s program gained contracts with various clubs in Europe and colleges in USA. These included: Aaron Younger - Szeged Hungary Anthony Martin - Sabadell Spain World League Preliminary Rounds The Australian Sharks men’s water polo team finished with a perfect six wins from as many games in the two preliminary rounds held Rob Maitland - Mediterrani Spain; Johnno Cotterill - Panionios Greece Aidan Roach - Vojvodina Serbia Joel Dennerley, Jeremy Davies and Mace Rapsey - USC USA; NCAA champions Photo Credit: Anthony Pearse, Pearse Photography
WATER POLO AUSTRALIA 2011/12 ANNUAL REPORT Born ‘91 Junior Men’s Report European and World Championships Tour The national junior boys contested a European tournament in Italy and the FINA Junior Men’s World Championships in Volos, Greece in August 2011, finishing a creditable fourth place, although I believe the touring party were very disappointed with the result, as we should have won the semifinal against Spain. caught them by surprise with our strong counter-attack game, setting up some big attacking score lines. Montenegro Training The other activity undertaken on the tour was a training camp conducted in Istanbul, Turkey. We had 7 days training and preparing for the World Championships. We played a practice game against the USA u20 and Montenegro u20 National Teams. This leg of the tour was hard for the boys as we combined hard physical training while working on game tactics that we would use in the World Championships. We were lucky to see USA as we eventually played them in the cross over. These trainings gave us valuable insights into the way they played and tactics we could use to beat them at the World Championships. FINA Junior World Championships Volos, Greece The result proved that we were one of the best teams in the world and the way the team played during the week gained us tremendous respect on the world stage. Many of the players played to their ability and the performances of the so-called “lesser” renowned “bench players” was extremely promising and gratifying. Acknowledgements On a final note, I would like to thank Assistant Coach, David Swift, Team Manager, Garry Ryberg and Referee, Noel Harrod for their contributions to the National Junior Team program. David and Garry volunteered a considerable amount of their time organising the camps and international tour. Noel and David were also heavily involved in all training sessions with opponents and the tournaments. Their support throughout the tour was invaluable. Adam Richardson Head Coach B91 Men The squad of 15 players included 10 of last year’s European touring squad, with 3 new players, Aaron Younger, who only toured with the senior team the previous year, George Ford and Matthew Giles. Croatia Training We started the tour with a training camp against Croatia’s National u20 Team that were preparing for the World Championships. This was a true baptism of fire for some boys who struggled at times. Morning trainings consisted of tactical and technical preparation, extra-man attack and defence, zone defence, and counterattacking skills, followed by strength and conditioning training in the pool or weights room and swimming sessions. Evening trainings consisted of the games versus the Croatian National u20 Team, gaining solid match practice. Italy Training and Competition This training camp consisted of morning sessions on our own doing swimming fitness and skills trainings. The afternoons saw joint training sessions with the Canadian and Italian u20 National Teams. The first tournament was a three-nation event in Italy. We played both the Italian and Canadian team. During these games we had the chance to apply some tactics, which we would later use at the World Championships. There were many positives to arise from the tournament, notably the team playing together in official games for the first time. Our tactics in the first quarter against Italy Team James Clark Jeremy Davie Paul Sindone BJ Howden Adam Polivca Sam Quinn Aaron Younger Edward Slade James Fannon George Ford Nick Redbond Blake Edwards (C) Matthew Giles Reserves Clayton Whittaker Connor Martin Our best match for the tournament was our quarter final against Italy. We played to our game plan and pulled them apart eventually winning by 2 goals. Italy would have been favoured to win the tournament after beating Croatia earlier in tournament. Our whole campaign and planning during the last two years came down to a crunch game against Spain in the semi-final when we gave up a 2 goal lead during the second quarter, eventually losing the game by 1 goal due to some individual mistakes. This result meant that we had to contest the play off for the bronze and we would not progress to the gold medal game. The sad statistic to come out of the championships was that we walked away without a medal losing to Greece in the bronze medal game by 3 goals. Photo Credit: Anthony Pearse, Pearse Photography 17
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2011-12 Annual Report - Australian Water Polo Inc

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