2024 End-of-Year Chairperson's Message

Kia ora Water Polo New Zealand whānau,

As we begin 2025, I want to take a moment to reflect on a year filled with growth, success, and opportunity for water polo in Aotearoa. It’s been a year of hard work, challenges, powerful performances, and deep community spirit.

I would like to share some of our proudest moments from 2024 and to thank every one of you – athletes, coaches, parents, officials, sponsors, volunteers, administrators, and supporters – for being part of this incredible journey. Together, we’re building something truly special.

Our athletes have made waves on the world stage this year. A few key highlights:

• Historic Finish at the World Aquatics Championships – Our Women's National Team achieved an outstanding 9th place finish in Doha, Qatar (Olympic year) – one of our best results. They narrowly missed Paris Olympic qualification – only losing by 2 goals to Canada. Special mention to Angie our senior women’s head coach who has worked tirelessly over many years.
• We have NZ women competing in the top leagues and teams in Europe and also NZ men and women competing in the US NCAA, all doing us proud
• U18 Women's Global Success – Our Under-18 Women's team secured 8th place at the World Aquatics U18 Championships in Chengdu, China, backing up the U18 women’s 8^th place finish in 2022, and 8^th place in 2023 U20 World Championships, thus proving that our young talent belong in the top world top 8.
• U18 Mens World Championships – this year, the men finished a credible 12^th place, significantly improving on past performances.
• International Coaching Excellence – We’re proud of former New Zealand Water Polo Coach of the Year, Justin Pickering, who led Salem University to the NCAA National Collegiate Championships in the USA – a sign of New Zealand’s coaching expertise being recognised globally.
• 60 NZ athletes competed in the Australia U15/17 State Championships coming home with multiple medals

Our growth this year has been about more than just results – it’s about people. People like Megan Thomson, our NZ Women's Assistant Coach, who was awarded a prestigious Te Hāpaitanga Coaching Scholarship from High Performance Sport New Zealand. Her success represents the future of female coaching leadership in our sport. Gabby Oloapu has recently been awarded cohort 5 TH coaching scholarship for the upcoming 18 months further growing our capability.

We’ve also seen academic and athletic excellence, with athletes like Bae Fountain and Mitchell Keightley recognised in the USA for their achievements both in the pool and in the classroom. Balancing sport and education takes resilience, and we’re incredibly proud of them.

We continue to build our coaching team at home as well, with experienced professionals like Joe Kayes stepping into key leadership roles as the Senior Men's Team Head Coach.

From Flippa Ball to elite training programmes, our community of coaches, parents, and officials have nurtured growth at every level. Our pipeline of talent is strong, and 2024 has shown us that we’re on the right track.

We also welcomed 2 new members to our competitions team – Jhanna Savov and Henry Whitfield who have stepped into the team and you will have likely seen them poolside.

None of this would be possible without support from our partners, sponsors, Sport NZ, NZOC, Trust Grants and High Performance Sport New Zealand.

This year, we again secured essential high performance funding from HPSNZ to support our elite female athletes. It’s this backing that helps us deliver better results on the global stage and develop future stars. NZ Water polo was the only team sport in 2024 that received an increase in HP funding up : 76% to $150k pa.

We’ve also made strides in athlete wellbeing. With HPSNZ support, we’ve created a new Athlete Wellbeing Framework, ensuring our players have access to the mental, physical, and emotional support they need to thrive – both in sport and in life.

Athlete Development funding has enabled us to deliver increased training opportunities, and create continual year on year age group pathways that builds the pipeline feeding Senior National Teams.

And finally, I want to acknowledge the individual athlete scholarships. These grants have made it possible for our players to balance university studies with their high performance goals – a critical step for the future of our sport.

At home, our national championships, competitions, and festivals are ever growing with all available pool space being maximised.

• The Suzuki National League has once again been a critical platform for New Zealand’s top talent to shine. From young players looking to break through to seasoned veterans – this league is our proving ground.
• Our Competitions at all age levels and abilities provided valuable experience for players across New Zealand and are vital as it is where athletes enjoy and have fun through water polo.
• We strive to grow at grassroots level through the ever-popular Flippa Ball programme, bringing younger generations into the sport and building a love for water polo that will last a lifetime.

Through competitions, pathways, and grassroots initiatives, we’re ensuring that water polo remains strong for future generations.

As I reflect on everything we’ve achieved in 2024, I feel an overwhelming sense of pride this year. Our athletes are stronger. Our pathways are clearer. Our partnerships are deeper.

None of this happens without you. To our staff, coaches, athletes, officials, sponsors,  administrators, volunteers, and our wider water polo whānau – thank you. Your hard work, dedication, and belief in our sport drive us forward every day.

I would like to extend a special thank you to my colleagues on the Board who have dug deep this year, and challenged and supported me – I am really grateful for you all. To the management team in Jan, Pam, Blake, Eelco, Polly, Henry, Jhanna and Tanisha your resilience and hard work has not been unnoticed thank you so much for everything you do.

Looking ahead to 2025, we have big goals. We’re building on this year’s momentum, pushing for even stronger performances, more pathways for young talent, and greater community engagement.

I invite you all to stay connected, stay involved, and stay inspired. Together, we will continue to grow water polo in Aotearoa.

Thank you. ngā mihi nui, and see you all poolside in 2025.

Alex Howieson

New Zealand Water Polo Chairperson