2011-12 Annual Report - Australian Water Polo Inc

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WATER POLO AUSTRALIA 2011/12 ANNUAL REPORT Athletes’ Commission Report 30 Firstly, I would like to congratulate the Olympians for their tremendous results in London this year. After several nail-biting penalty shootouts, the Stingers were able to come away with the Bronze, and the Sharks seventh place was their best result since Barcelona in 1992. The Athletes Commission over the past 12 months has provided an active voice of the athletes in our sport to the Water Polo Australia Limited’s (WPAL) Board and its executive staff. The commissioner’s roles as outlined in the charter are to: • Advise the board of WPAL on any matters relating to water polo which impact on water polo athletes; • Represent the athletes on WPAL’s Board through the Athletes Commission Chairman who is a voting member of the Board; • Nominate representatives from among their members to represent Water Polo Australia athletes on WPAL Board as requested from time to time; • Nominate athletes for election by ballot to the Australian Olympic Committee Athletes’ Commission; • Provide leadership and direction on matters that directly relate to water polo athletes. This year marks the end of term for the current Athletes Commission, which comprised of Nikita Cuffe (2004 & 2008 Olympian), Bronwyn Knox (2008 & 2012 Olympian), Toby Jenkins (2004 Olympian), Thomas Whalan (2000, 2004, 2008 & 2012 Olympian) and myself, Trent Franklin (2004 & 2008 Olympian). As chairman, I would like to thank them all for their support during the past four years. I believe this Commission has made progress in improving the wellbeing and experience of our athletes. This year saw the finalisation of the National Competition Committee (NCC), of which the Athletes Commission provided input and recommendations, including the recommendation to have an athlete that has played at the national level on that committee. With this becoming the overarching body for our domestic elite pathway, we saw it as an important component for the athletes to provide input. With the first appeal to an Olympic Team selection, input was taken from a selection of athletes as to the positive and negative aspects of the process. The Athlete Commission provided input on these processes for future selections, in hope to achieve absolute best practice for both the endeavours of the team and wellbeing of all athletes. Whilst selection will always be a difficult and often challenging process, we want to ensure the athletes are fairly treated and are close to their support networks at the time of team selections. The committee and I would like to thank the President, Board Members and CEO of WPAL for their support during our term. The Athletes’ Commission would like to encourage any Athletes who have any issues, concerns or idea’s they may have relating to the sport, to approach the WPAL Athletes’ Commission. We would like to wish the incoming Athletes’ Commission all the best. A formal handover of prior and current issues will occur once the new Commission has been finalised. Trent Franklin Chairman Water Polo Australia Athletes’ Commission Photo Credit: Anthony Pearse, Pearse Photography
WATER POLO AUSTRALIA 2011/12 ANNUAL REPORT Referees’ Commission Report The Commission has continued to provide recommendations to the Water Polo Australia Limited (WPAL) Board on referees to be included on the FINA list and in relation to appointments to International Tournaments. This year has also seen the Commission liaise with National Senior Coaches to provide Referees for National Training Centre (NTC) tournaments and National training camps. 2012 Current Commission Members Michael McNeill, Michael Hart, Mike DeFina and Phil Scales. The 2012 FINA Referees were: Daniel Flahive, Andrew Carney, Nicola Johnson, Nick Hodgers, Daniel Bartels, Megan Varlow and Gabor Boris. In 2013 the Commission will continue a rotation policy to provide opportunities for a senior National League referee to gain experience at International competition. National Water Polo League (NWPL) The Commission’s aim in 2013 is to refine the NWPL referee roster to encourage consistency in interpretation and quality of refereeing. The difficulty lies in the large number of games and locations; however the aim is to continue to improve the quality of refereeing provided. During 2013 we will increase our efforts in identifying younger referees who have the playing and refereeing background to officiate at the elite level. If you have an elite junior player who is interested in refereeing to contact your State referees’ commission. The Commission continues to develop the number and role of NWPL delegates. If you have someone in your club that has international experience as a player or referee and is interested in developing referees and acting as a delegate for NL games please contact the Commission. If the budget allows we will endeavour to have the FINA List referees travel more frequently to provide teams with elite referees more frequently. National Grading system for referees Mike DeFina with a little help from the balance of the Commission established a National Grading system that will allow us to identify our most competent and experienced referees before National Competitions. The grading system will also allow us to provide a documented pathway for all referees. An important component is the collaboration between State Referee Commissions and the Commission. The States will provide initial grades and those grades will be monitored during all National Competitions. Naturally referees can advance in their grading and decline if their standard warrants it. We have established a database for this system, thanks to Jodie Watson, and will continue to improve its functions as we develop our communication reporting to referees and WPAL. Our aims for 2012/13 Our focus during 2012 has been on referee development and pathways. At the 2012 16 & under National Club Championships, to be held in Brisbane, a new system for referee selection will be adopted. Previously teams have been asked to bring a referee to the tournament and this has created multiple problems, the worst of which was inconsistency of standard and decisions. For Brisbane we have selected 24 referees from our FINA List, NWPL list and our highest graded referees. With this we hope to increase the overall quality of refereeing. We will also run a FINA Referees School before the championships to help further develop our referees. Our hope is that we will be able to maintain a high level of competency into 2013. The Commission and those attending would like to thank John Whitehouse for agreeing to run the FINA School. We would like to thank Chris Harrison, Tom Hill, Peter Hobday and Jodie Watson for their assistance in 2012 and look forward to 2013. Michael McNeill Chairman Water Polo Australia Referees’ Commission 31 Photo Credit: Anthony Pearse, Pearse Photography
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