AUCKLAND CITY'S SUPPORT ACKNOWLEDGED
• successful Pan Pacific Youth festival which saw the club gain 4 gold medals a silver and a bronze
• the performance of the Senior Women in retaining their National Championship title and the Junior Men in gaining the Junior Men’s National title
• maintaining membership above 300
• 4 members gaining their A grade refereeing status
• a positive financial results that corrected the previous years massive deficit
The new committee will meet in October to consider key initiatives for the 2008 year including coaching and refereeing development plans.
Article by Chris Hayward
MARIST AUCKLAND WATER POLO (INC)
EXTRACTS FROM THE CHAIRMAN’S AND HEAD COACHES REPORT 2005-06
COMPETITION SUCCESSES
The past year has again been one of the most successful years in the Clubs 17 year history. At National Championships the Club has captured 4 Gold, 4 Silver and 1 Bronze and won 7 out of 10 possible Auckland / Northern Regional titles.
Seniors- National League and Northern Regional title holders in both Men’s and Women’s. Women won the National Club Championships, the Men placed third.
U20-The women were 1st at National U20 and Northern Regional Club Championships. The Men placed second in the Northern Regional and fourth at the National competitions
U18-The girls were1st at both the Northern Regional and National U18 Club Championships. The boys were first in the Northern Regional and second in the National U18 Club Championships.
U16-Red girls were1st at both the Northern Regional level and National U16 Club Championships. The boys were second at both the Northern Regional level and National U16 Club Championships.
U14-the girls were 1st at the Northern Regional level and second at the National U14 Club Championships. The boys were 2nd at the Northern Regional level and third at the National U14 Club Championships.
U12-the boys came runners up at the Olympic Hopeful tournament and the Sharks were 3rd at the 2006 Tauranga U12 Tournament
At this year’s Pan Pacific Festival Marist was most successful claiming 4 of 8 possible titles. Read more.
Players that have excelled include John Ware, Jacques Venter, Zane Mcalpine, Anna Sieprath, Emily Cox, Rachel Swindells, Amy Logan, Kimberly Summich, Lisa Van Raalte, Sarah Pattison, Kelly Mason and Frankie Snell all representing their country at the highest level. There are also approximately a further 18 other players that represented their respected age grades in Internationals in the last 12 months.
With these results Marist remains the most successful water polo club in New Zealand for 2005-06
MEMBERSHIP
The Club grew its membership to 331 to retake the title of New Zealand’s largest club. 74 members were in the Under 12 category. Read more.
COACHING
We have been fortunate again to attract good quality coaches and continue to have a very experienced coaching staff with John Ware, Grant McAnaneny, Kurt Goldsworthy and Olaf Adam all coaching sides at an International level in the last 12 months. With Jacques Venter, Zane McAlpine, Paul Monney and Aaron Stockdale all previously having coached at an International level , Marist has very experience coaching staff. The leadership of Head Coach Kurt Goldsworthy has been once again most appreciated.
However, retaining quality coaches will be a challenge for the near future. The exodus of many of our top females players overseas has lead to a substantial lack of potentially excellent female coaches, although the coming year has more females coaching than any other previously. Many of our senior men who have been the backbone of the club for much of the past 10 years are at an age where retirement from playing is looming. Thankfully most are still involved in other aspects of the Club. However, many of these top male coaches are no longer willing to invest their time and energy back into the club for what they see as very little financial and personal reward.
Hopefully the club will be able to assist in retaining, in particular, these coaches instead of losing them to the more lucrative Secondary School market.
REFEREING
The number of Club referees has grown with several new C grades and some members upskilling to B grade. John Ware became our second A grade referee joining Paul Monney who was the Club’s first. We have earmarked another couple for potential A grade status plus some for B grade in addition to replenishing the stock at C grade. It is imperative we get more females involved in this side of the sport though. The number of female coaches also increased during the past year and with further encouragement this should continue.
FUNDING
The financing of the Club’s programmes continues to be well catered for by John Sieprath. His hard work reduced travel expenses for our teams and kept Club fees below the true costs as the pool hireage. Without the support of Trusts such as the The Trusts Charitable Foundation we could expect about a $150 increase in club fees.
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the following groups: Sleepyhead, and Coats Industrial, Pub Charity, The Oxford Trust, The Southern Trust, Lion Foundation, Mangere Bridge Sports and Cultural Trust, Pacific Sports and Community Trust, South Auckland Charitable Trust, ASB Charitable Trust, Century Foundation, Endeavour Charitable Trust, Pelorus, Community Grants Foundation, Coats Industrial and Panasonic NZ Ltd.
THE WATER POLO INSTITUTE
The WPI has had a very successful year. It helped guide many feeder Secondary School sides to outstanding success, Sacred Heart where runners up in a tournament in Queensland in December and Auckland Grammar placed third at the same event. In the 2006 year Diocesan School won both the North Island and the National Secondary Schools Championships.
With the employment of a Marketing Manager / Coach the Water Polo Institute many challenges have been attacked. The WPI ran Coaching Development programs which where very successful for an entry level coach. The Social League continues to be a strong alternative competition for those less competitive. It is good to see a few of the parents giving the sport a go. The Water Polo Institute also runs holiday programmes, facilitated the Marist High Performance Programme, and sells water polo equipment. They now have the capabilities to manufacture designer togs and caps here in NZ and they sell balls, cap holders, ball bags, goals and various specialist training equipment, at lower prices than any other water polo stockist in NZ.
The WPI made a small loss over the last financial year primarily due to the expansion of its business activities and increased employment expenses. It gave employment to many Marist club members over the last 12 months.
SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Club Committee continued to grapple with the worries of running a large active club. Many hours of work were spent by many people. Some deserve special mention:
Craig Reid (design of brochure), Christine Van Raalte (Treasurer & Photographer) secretaries Robin Hellaby and later Gregory Heap, Trish Cox (Uniforms), Olaf Adam (Website), Linda Phillips (Equipment), Janet Clinton (Manager / Fundraising) and recent additions to the committee Bev Schubert, Jan Dormer, Penny Chamberlain and Roz Hunt. Christine Van Raalte will finish as Treasurer with Adrienne Burns taking over.
FUTURE CHALLENGES
Despite recent successes the club will face various challenges in the immediate and long-term future. Retaining and developing coaching staff is crucial to keep up with the growth of the club. Referees and Administrators too remain sought after. Pool costs are continually increasing (due to increases in power charges) and this has a direct effect on both getting feeder groups (Year 7 & 8 sides) playing and keeping costs down for club members.
FINAL
The club thanks all those that have assisted in the development of the club and will continue to do so. We are looking forward to the challenges ahead.
Chris Hayward Kurt Goldsworthy
Chairperson Head Coach
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