NATIONAL AGE GROUP PROGRAM TEAMS ANNOUNCED FOR MEN’S 16&U OVERSEAS TOURS

Water Polo Australia is pleased to announce four men’s National Age Group Program (NAGP) teams ahead of their overseas tours next month.

With no World Championships set for 2023 in the 16&U age group, WPA is pleased to offer a development opportunity to its NAGP athletes.

Two 16&U men’s teams will travel to New Zealand, with two additional teams also travelling overseas, one to Europe and one to the USA.

16&U Men’s Head Coach John Fox said the tours will be crucial in instilling good practice for the future.

“This year is about giving our athletes exposure to what international water polo is like,” Fox said.

“For many of these kids, they would have never experienced training or playing international water polo before, so this will be a great opportunity for them to get an idea of where they are at, and what they need to do to be an international level player.

“These tours are not just about developing their skill and ability, but their whole person as an athlete. We want them to be able to tour well, fit into a team and adopt our culture.

“We’re working closely with the Aussie Sharks and Tim Hamill to ensure that we’re inline with their practices, and starting to breed that at a young age so it becomes seamless across the age groups right through until a senior national level.

“We want to give as many athletes as possible the opportunity this year, and we know they’ll bring back their experiences and propagate that among their clubs and water polo network as well,” he said.

16&U MEN’S GREEN TEAM EUROPEAN TOUR

Jake Cox (Sydney Uni, NSW)

Lachlan Davies (SNB Breakers, NSW)

Tom Ellison (Sydney Uni, NSW)

Dylan Jennison (UQ Water Polo, QLD)

Mitchell Lazarus (North Brisbane Polo Bears, QLD)

Brandon Liu (Ryde, NSW)

Oliver Moncur (UQ Water Polo, QLD)

Callum Pugh (UWA, WA)

Jett Semmens (SNB Breakers, NSW)

Taoso Taoso (UQ Water Polo, QLD)

Savo Todic (UNSW, NSW)

Alex Woolfe (SNB Breakers, NSW)

Taj Young (Sydney Uni, NSW)

Kai Zenith (Newcastle, NSW)

Ivan Zorotovic (UWA, WA)

Head Coach: John Fox

Assistant Coach: Jon Sieben

16&U NAVY TEAM NEW ZEALAND TOUR

Cassius Allan (Melbourne Collegians, VIC)

Ryan Allan (Mantas, QLD)

Beau Boettcher (Hunter Hurricanes, NSW)

Tom Elliott (Mantas, QLD)

Ernest Gawthorn (Sunshine Coast, QLD)

Charley Hegarty (Mantas, QLD)

Zac Hutton (Sunshine Coast, QLD)

Sam Kettle (UQ Water Polo, QLD)

George Mayer (UTS Balmain Tigers, NSW)

Fynnian Norris (Sunshine Coast, QLD)

Wade Wildin-Powell (Mantas, QLD)

Nick Selby (Ryde, NSW)

Tom Sloman (North Brisbane Polo Bears, QLD)

Charlie Smart (Adelaide Vikings, SA)

Head Coach: John Fox

Assistant Coach: Jon Sieben

16&U GOLD TEAM US TOUR

Sean Bright (UQ Water Polo, QLD)

Benjamin Burshtein (UNSW, NSW)

Joseph Cervetto (UQ Water Polo, QLD)

Harry Colley (Noosa, QLD)

Thomas Dreverman (Melville, WA)

Patrick Duggan (UQ Water Polo, QLD)

Hamish Ellison (Gungahlin Dragons, ACT)

Sam Eyles (UQ Water Polo, QLD)

Ryan Ford (Sydney Uni, NSW)

Joshua Gould (Ovens and Murray, NSW)

Kairo Lynch (North Brisbane Polo Bears, QLD)

Henry Gangoiti (DVE Aquatic, VIC)

Declan McGregor (UNSW, NSW)

Orlando Mina (Sydney Uni, NSW)

Campbell Warren (Sydney Uni, NSW)

Head Coach: Will Downes

Assistant Coach: Mark Holden
 

16&U BLUE TEAM NEW ZEALAND TOUR

Jesse Barr (Melville, WA)

Huw Bloomfield (Easts Newcastle, NSW)

Max Burke-Moore (UNSW, NSW)

Samuel Ciccocioppo (Adelaide Vikings, SA)

Angus Cope (UQ Water Polo, QLD)

Joseph Gallagher (UQ Water Polo, QLD)

Adam Handley (Hunter Hurricanes, NSW)

Josh Holtz (Essendon, VIC)

Cillian McGrath (SNB Breakers, NSW)

Charlie Murphy (Melbourne Collegians, VIC)

Zachary Paul (SNB Breakers, NSW)

Ysus Perez (Drummoyne, NSW)

Sam Rolfe (UNSW, NSW)

Max Ryan (SNB Breakers, NSW)

Matias Schubert (Gungahlin Dragons, ACT)

Head Coach: Nathan Thomas

Assistant Coach: Toby Fitzgerald