On Tuesday 13 January, Water Polo NSW launched the Water Polo NSW Coaching Handbook. 

The handbook is a statewide initiative designed to strengthen coach education, athlete development and alignment across the sport, as part of the WPNSW Strategic Re-Set (2024–2025). This initiative focuses on building long-term systems that support coach education, athlete development, and community growth.  

The handbook was developed through a collaborative process involving coaches, technical experts and stakeholders from across NSW. 

The Coaching Handbook is designed to make sure all coaches and athletes across NSW receive consistent messages and follow a clear, connected learning pathway — from grassroots to high performance. This is particularly important given NSW’s broad geography and diverse coaching contexts. 

Designed as a living digital resource, the handbook will continue to evolve alongside the sport, with future additions planned, outlined in the WPNSW Strategic Plan (2025-2032) including a Referees’ Handbook and team-specific tools. Together, these resources reflect Water Polo NSW’s commitment to building a unified, high-quality coaching pathway across the state. 

It provides a common coaching language and philosophy for everyone in the sport, helping coaches use the same definitions, standards, and methods to teach the game effectively. 

It also includes age-specific development benchmarks and links to AIS resources to support holistic athlete development. 

This resource is not a single rulebook, but a foundation for continuous learning and collaboration, giving coaches practical tools and ideas to improve the quality of coaching and athlete experiences across the state. 

Vedran Cirkovic, Performance Pathways Manager, said: “The launch of the Water Polo NSW Coaching Handbook marks a major step forward for coach education and athlete development in our sport.  

“This resource gives coaches a clear, connected learning pathway, backed by age-specific benchmarks and direct links to trusted AIS tools, so we can develop athletes holistically at every stage. Designed as a living digital platform, it will continue to grow and evolve with our community — reinforcing a shared coaching language and philosophy that supports consistency, collaboration and excellence across NSW.” 

Alyssa Finck of Wodonga Water Polo Club said: “I think this is a game changer, this is awesome.   

“I’ve been playing water polo for 22 years and this will be a fantastic addition. With only a handful of coaches in our regional club we will be able to take a bit of work off our shoulders and hopefully gain more interest in people to assist with coaching. This is fantastic.”   

You can view the Coaching Handbook and watch the launch video on our website.