The mens team won the Australian Country Bronze medal and could have done a lot better if some of our best players had been available. All through the week our play in front of goals was plagued by poor shot selection and the inability to score when the opportunities did present themselves. Because of the way the draw was structured we had to defeat the NT three times to achieve the third place finish which really put the pressure on in the final medal game. However our nerve held and in fact we produced our best display of the week and actually scored many of the chances we created (finally) to win comfortably in the end.
Only 2 women toured this year and they were put into the draft and played with one of the W.A. teams. The womens round games this year were run as a Fast Fives comp as only W.A and N.S.W had full teams. So W.A and N.S.W picked a team each of their own players and the rest were divided up into extra teams. There was still a final played for the women between WA and NSW which was won by NSW.

POST ACTIVITY REPORT ON ARAFURA GAMES 2001 ADF WATERPOLO

Reference:

a.              Arafura Admin Instr dated 2 May 01

Introduction 

1.              Find enclosed a Post Activity Report on the ADF Waterpolo involvement in the Arafura Games 2001.

Aim 

2.              The aim of this report is to:

a.              provide a permanent record of the activity, and

b.              indicate the value of the activity. 

Composition of the Waterpolo Team

Pre-Arafura Training 

4.              The Mens Waterpolo Team did not have the opportunity to train together prior to the Games. The unavailabilty of five of the men’s best players to be released from units and no pre-Arafura Training impacted on the teams ability to achieve desired results compared to Arafura 1999.

Pre Deployment Administration

5.              The administrative arrangements prior to the games was a bit of a problem, mainly due to the Interservice Waterpolo Competition and Selections being so close to the Arafura Games dates and members trying to be released from their units at such short notice. Also the ADFWPA committee had a major change in key positions which exemplified administrative problems on our behalf. The administration for the games was very good although the following point could be addressed for the next Arafura Games:

Uniforms.  The uniforms provided by the ADFSC were good and this should continue. Possibly due to the climatic conditions of Darwin, providing team caps as previously provided in 1999 would be beneficial. Returns were provided on the sizes required by our team, however there was a limited number of extra large sized shorts and shirts and as a result a number of our team missed out on being issued uniforms due to the limitations of sizes.

Administration during Arafura 

6.              Administration during the Arafura Games had been excellent both by the ADF staff and also the Arafura organising committee. The ADF management should be commended for their efforts and perserverance in their jobs to allow the teams to compete to their best abilities without the extra burden of administrative problems.

RAAF Base Darwin and Robertson Barracks Staff 

7.              The staff from these two bases in which the Waterpolo Team dealt with should be commended for their efforts. Areas including Accommodation, Medical, Catering, Training and playing facilities staff provided excellent support throughout the Games and was greatly appreciated.

Benefits

8.              The attendance of the ADF Waterpolo at the Arafura Games is invaluable in promoting and developing interservice relationships between players and most of all the continued developmentof waterpolo within the ADF. It is highly recommended that the ADF and Waterpolo Association continue to be involved in the participation of these Games. 

Conclusion 

9.              The problem encountered with the selections being too close to the Arafura Games has been addressed and the Interservice Competition will now be conducted in the month of November, to allow members plenty of notice to be released. Although the ADF Waterpolo Association was unable to send away a female team and all other matters as mentioned previously taken into consideration, the Games have been a learning experience for all players that will benefit ADF Waterpolo in the future.

Recommendations

a.              Water polo be invited to participate in the Games as part of the ADF contingent;

b.              Continue participating in the Arafura Games as it is a good medium to develop and foster relationships between close foreign nations; and

c.              The week prior to the commencement of the Games be utilised for team training and acclimatisation to Darwin

J.MORLEY

CPL PTI