NZWP Staff & Volunteer Update – August 2024

Over the past couple of weeks we have been excited to welcome some new faces to the New Zealand Water Polo team. 

Administration

We are fortunate to have recruited two volunteers to assist us with uniforms and men's training administration. A huge thank you to Vanessa Rogers and Vanessa Playle for giving up their time to help us in these areas.

We are also very excited to be working with Phoebe Hayman, whom has offered her branding expertise to New Zealand Water Polo on a voluntary basis. We are very excited for this work to come to fruition - so watch this space!

Coaching

We were thrilled to announce the appointment of Joe Kayes to the role of Men’s Head Coach in late June. Joe brings a wealth of experience to the position, having competed at the highest level of the sport, including at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and recently led Tauranga to multiple titles across the National League and National Under 21 Championships. 

Read our full announcement of Joe’s appointment, here.

Performance

We are excited to welcome Helena Gasson on board as our Performance Assistant. Helena has been working closely with our High Performance Manager, Polly Powrie. With Polly departing to Europe in early August to manage the youth and women's America's Cup sailing teams, Helena will be the main point of contact for all things high performance at New Zealand Water Polo while Polly is away.

Helena is currently a high performance swimmer, and also works with Swimming New Zealand. 

Competitions

The past month has seen us welcome two new Competition Managers – Henry Whitfield and Jhanna Savov - to the New Zealand Water Polo team. 

Henry joins us from his most recent position of Operations Officer at New Zealand Rugby League, bringing a wealth of sports management experience to the role. Jhanna joins us from Mount Albert Bowling Club, where she worked in the participation and events space as the Development Officer.

Marketing / Communications

We also welcomed Tanisha Keach to the New Zealand Water Polo team as our Digital & Marketing Manager. Tanisha joins us in a shared full time position with Swimming New Zealand, dedicating two days per week to New Zealand Water Polo. 

Tanisha comes from a strong aquatics background, having swum and played water polo throughout high school and recently worked with Swimming Otago in the digital marketing space.