Nordic Water Polo League (NWPL) was founded in January 2019. The tournament was born due to the lack of teams and competitive matches in Finland and in Sweden.

Raul Perian, player-coach at that time in the club Turun Uimarit (Finland), and José Javier Veganzones, player-president at that time in the club SPIF Stockholm (Sweden), decided to join forces to create this competition as a regional league.

The first edition gathered the existing three men’s clubs in each country competing in the national league: Turun, Cetus and Kuhat (Finland), and SPIF, Järfälla and Hellas (Sweden). The success of this first edition made that Lithuanian and Polish clubs asked to join in the next season, marking the first expansion of the league.

From there, the competition has kept expanding in the following years and awakening the interest of teams across Europe, who have been adding their names to the club rosters. The men’s competition is currently in its 7th edition, counting with 28 clubs from 16 European countries. Until now, clubs from 19 European countries have played in at least one edition of the Nordic League. The past winners underline the geographical spread of the competition, with teams from the Nordic and Baltic regions, as well as Central and South-west Europe.

The continuously expansion of the NWPL and the increase of level among the teams gave led to the creation of a second league for the men’s teams called the Nordic Trophy. This gave the opportunity for the eliminated teams from the main tournament to keep competing internationally. The first edition was held in 2024 together with the 6th edition, with SPIF Stockholm as the winner.

The growth of the men’s competition and the interest of the clubs resulted in the creation for the women’s competition in 2025. 11 teams from 9 countries across Europe have joined with the kick-off in Oradea and the finals in Malta, resulting very successful.

Besides, the opportunity for younger athletes to have its own competition has come to a reality in 2025 since the U16 tournament was born. The hosts for this first edition are Espoo and Koln.

The beauty of the League consists in bringing together in the same league clubs from all countries and levels, from amateur clubs/leagues to semi-professional clubs/leagues, culminating with clubs from the top half of one of the top leagues in Europe. All this in a well-structured league with feasible rules for organization and keeping a close contact with the involved clubs with continuous feedback and improvement. It is also a great opportunity for referees in developing countries to have international experience in a higher water polo level.

NWPL will continue its mission of developing and promoting water polo by continuously improving its current competitions through all aspects and establishing new competitions and welcoming new clubs from all over the world in our community.