UANA CONGRESS 2019
Technical Water Polo Committee - Minutes and Summary Report - July 2015
UANA TECHNICAL WATERPOLO COMMITTEE REPORT
TO UANA CONGRESS - OCTOBER 17, 2011
Executive Committee Liaison – William J. Shaw CAN
Committee Members
William J. Shaw – Acting Chairman CAN
Jorge Pagura –Secretary BRA
Neil Mur CAN
Claude Lavoie CAN
Lynn Wittstock (Partial term) USA
Andrew Takata (Partial term) USA
Wim Keman AHO
Max Aguilar MEX
Alejandro Legasa ARG
Resigned during the term:
William Frady (Chair) USA
Megan Hernandez USA
Meetings
Meetings of the Technical Waterpolo Committee of UANA were held on an ongoing basis, at least annually and in conjunction with the various UANA Events which occurred throughout the quadrennial.
Competitions
Junior Events
2008 – Pan-American Junior Waterpolo Championships Sao Paulo, Brazil
There was representation from ten (10) countries for the men and five (5) countries for the women. This was a qualification event for the 2009 Water Polo World Championships.
The final placing were as follows:
WOMEN MEN
1. Canada* 1. United States*
2. United States* 2. Canada*
3. Mexico* 3. Brazil*
4. Brazil* 4. Puerto Rico*
5. Puerto Rico 5. Mexico*
6. Colombia
7. Venezuela
8. Argentina
9. Netherlands Antilles
10. Trinidad and Tobago
* = qualified for 2009 Junior World Championships
It was a successful event and was very well hosted.
2010 – Pan-American Junior (19U) Waterpolo Championships Miami, USA
There was representation from ten (10) countries for the men and seven (7) countries for the women. This was a qualification event for the 2011 Water Polo World Championships. On the final days, extreme weather conditions caused disruption to the schedule and resulted in the cancellation of some of the lower placing games.
The final placings were as follows:
MEN
1. CAN *
2. USA*
3. BRA*
4. PUR*
5. MEX*
6. ARG
7. AHO
7. TRE
9. COL
10. VEN
WOMEN
1. CAN*
2. USA*
3. BRA*
4. PUR*
5. MEX
6. VEN
7. TRI
* = qualified for 2011 Junior (20U) World Championships
It was a successful event, considering the weather conditions encountered and was very well hosted.
2011 – Pan-American Junior (17U) Waterpolo Championships San Juan, Puerto Rico
There was representation from seven (7) countries for the men and five (5) countries for the women. This was a qualification event for the 2012 Junior (18U) Water Polo World Championships.
The final placings were as follows:
MEN
1. Brazil*
2. United States of America*
3. Columbia*
4. Trinidad and Tobago*
5. Canada*
6. Puerto Rico
7. Peru
WOMEN
1. Canada*
2. United States of America *
3. Brazil*
4. Puerto Rico*
5. Trinidad and Tobago
* = qualified for 2012 Junior (18U) World Championships
It was a successful event and was very well hosted at the world class San Juan Natatorium.
Senior Events
2009 – There was no qualification event for the 2009 FINA World Championships. The attending teams from the Americas, and their placings were:
MEN – United States (4th), Canada (8th), and Brazil (13th)
WOMEN – United States (1st), Canada (2nd), and Brazil (13th).
2011 – There were two qualification events for the two places (in addition to those for which USA and CAN (women) and USA (men) had already been awarded) allocated to the Americas for the 2011 World Swimming Championships. Each had a three team tournament.
The men’s event was hosted in January in Victoria, British Columbia. The final placing was:
1. Canada*
2. Brazil*
3. Argentina
The women’s event was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The final placing was:
1. Cuba*
2. Brazil*
3. Argentina
* = qualified for 2011 World Championships
The placings of our teams at the World Championships was:
MEN – United States (6th), Canada (10th) and Brazil (14th).
WOMEN – United States (6th), Canada (8th), Cuba (10th) and Brazil (14th).
UANA Technical Water Polo Committee Key Initiatives
Coordinating with FINA, the holding of referee schools in the Americas and encouraging/lobbying FINA to have schools occur in both North and South America to be reflective of the extreme geographical distances. FINA (particularly the FINA TWPC) is reticent to recognize these factual matters and wishes to limit the Americas to 1 clinic per year.
Continuing to hold annual age group competitions – UANA had held them on an annual basis in the past and now FINA has adopted the same approach.
Continuing to encourage regional competitions for our UANA countries and to develop strategies to maintain and increase participation among our federations during challenging economic times.
Reviewing additional coaching, refereeing and competitive development opportunities for individuals and federations within the Americas.
Continuing a commitment to develop refereeing opportunities at major competitions in the Americas and encourage FINA to enhance the opportunities for UANA referees at major events.
Try to integrate an effective athlete representative into the TWPC structure and encourage the members with representatives on the UANA TWPC to fund their travel costs to meetings and events.
Developing and maintaining a better communication system among the ‘waterpolo family’ within the structures of both FINA and UANA to ensure that information is sent and received in a timely and effective manner.
Encourage federations to respect the entry deadlines for UANA Waterpolo Events so that sanctions, which will impact mostly upon the athletes, do not have to be imposed upon teams either not entering until well past the deadlines or withdrawing after indicating that they would enter. The uncertainty and last minute changes which occur are costing the host federation extra money and, if left unchecked, will start limiting the number of federations prepared to bid to host UANA Events.
