Winstanley-Smith announced as NTP head coach

It was announced today that Angie Winstanley-Smith was to take the position as National Teams Programme (NTP) Women's Pathway head coach.

As a player, Angie - originally from England - joined the British senior women's water polo squad in 2003. She then played in various European championships, building toward her international highlight at the London 2012 Olympics. Angie scored a hatrick in Great Britain's opener against Russia. Two years later, she was named as the most valuable player at the Commonwealth Championships. Since being involved with water polo in New Zealand, Angie has coached the Marist senior women to gold in the National League, Diocesan School to gold at the NZCT AIMS Games, and the Marist under 16 girls to gold at nationals: all in the space of less than a year.

Winstanley-Smith coaching at the recent Under 14 Division One National Championships in Wellington

At a national level, Angie joined the NTP a year ago with the Born 2000 squad, who were unbeaten at the Trans-Tasman Challenge in Australia this year. "I really enjoyed the year with this group," said Winstanley-Smith "there's some great talent coming through." At the departure of women's coach Attila Biro after the Kazan 2015 World Championships, Angie stepped in as the interim coach. "It has been a great opportunity for me, and a chance to call upon my international experience as a player. The girls are training really hard and I am incredibly excited about the role" said Winstanley-Smith of her appointment as NTP head coach. "I love water polo and anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about helping our youngsters reach their full potential." Angie will oversee the women's NTP from age-group to senior level. "New Zealand has a wealth of talent to be nurtured so we can perform at all levels."

Together with the NTP Director, Eelco Uri, both men's and women's coaches will use this coming holiday period to establish and finalise the age group campaigns for 2016 and beyond, as well as the Regional Training Centres (RTC) structure which was kicked off in 2015 and has proven to be very successful. With these appointments New Zealand Water Polo (NTP) is implementing the first important phase of their Strategic (Game) Plan towards Olympic representation and maximising our players’ potential within their water polo careers and beyond.