Life Membership: John Zagame

A local resident with a sporty family, John joined CSWPC in 2002 as his two children Luke and Nicola (“Ziggy”) began to play grade. Immediately John took an active role in the administration of the club and the support of the athletes.

John was the manager of the Women’s 1st grade metropolitan team for 9 seasons (2004-12) at the same time he held the diplomatic position of Vice President of the Cronulla National League squads, representing Cronulla’s interest to Water Polo Australia.

Only 3 years after joining, John stood for and was successful in his bid for club President; a position he held for the next 11 seasons (2007-17). During this period John oversaw many successful campaigns by our National League teams and oversaw a huge shift in the sponsoring of international coaches and players to boost the club’s success.

John says he was fortunate enough to have a strong Executive committee during his administration with the highlight being the signing of a sponsorship agreement with Australian Catholic University. Having this association with university brought a lot of prestige to our club and helped attract and retain our top talent amongst a competitive environment.

Favourite memories of John’s involvement with CSWPC include:

• The Sports Lunches - fundraising events with Jon Harker donating himself as MC and then generously spending up big at the silent auctions.
• Cronulla Water Polo Blue Balls that were created not only to raise funds but to build comradery. So much fun getting all dressed up.
• Presentation nights at the old Cronulla Leagues club.
• Our many international recruits that have added so much to our club culture as both coaches and players. Many have gone on to represent Australia and their countries of origin at the highest levels and to John that’s such a buzz. They will be our friends for life!

John values how his family was welcomed into our club with open arms and a warmth that he still recalls years later. He is continually proud of the club’s evolution including the professionalism in the way that it operates and the opportunities that it has given to our young members.

Many club members were inspirational to John while he was an active club member. While there are too many to individually name, he felt privileged to be President for all our National and Olympian players, staff and officials as well as those club members who have played hundreds and in some cases over 1000 games for Cronulla. It’s an inspiring mix of elite excellence, commitment and love for our sport.

John says he was humbled in 2017 to receive Life Membership of the best water polo club in Australia saying

“It’s just like having an extended family to me. I’ll always feel connected - Fins Up!”