Oceania Canoe Association activities Q2 2025

Polo Dazzles on Gold Coast 
The Oceania Canoe Polo Championships was recently staged on the Gold Coast in Australia. A large number of teams took part over the four days. Greg Smale, Chair of the ICF Canoe Polo Committee, was present and ran a judging course, guiding another group of emerging officials passing their exams. The venue was fantastic, although a bit wet leading up to the event. Then the sun shone throughout the competition against the backdrop of Queensland's theme parks. Everyone had a great time, especially with the convenors organising crossover games where the men played the women, seniors faced juniors, and so on. This ensured all teams participated in plenty of matches and experienced different styles and levels of competition.  

Testing, Testing 
The highlight of the Oceania Canoe Polo Championships was the pilot games for four-on-four mixed polo teams. Australia and New Zealand’s top players teamed up to try out the new format, testing several versions during the games. This was a great success as athletes, coaches, and officials all shared their feedback on what worked and what didn’t, then made adjustments and played again based on the suggestions. It was a great way to test a new idea and get immediate feedback on different options. The ICF Canoe Polo Committee can now use this as a basis for developing new formats in Canoe Polo.  

On the Development Front 
The Oceania Canoe Association Board held a meeting on June 24 to discuss the ICF innovation fund, as well as the Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships in 2026 and the Pacific Games to be held in Tahiti in 2026 and 2027 respectively. The administration and logistics are well underway for both events. Tahiti is a fantastic venue for Canoe Ocean Racing, and we hope to build on these events to attract more world-class events to Oceania. We also discussed the Women’s Symposium, which will be held at the ICF Slalom World Championships on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, in Sydney, Australia. Paddle Australia will organise the symposium, and we are working towards attracting a global audience through live streaming and recording options so people can watch it at their convenience around the world. Finally, we look forward to being part of the 2025 ICF Slalom World Championships hosted by Paddle Australia at Penrith, Sydney, from September 29 to October 4. 

By Danielle Woodward, Secretary General of the Ocean Canoe Association