Welcome to our September England Water Polo Club news - August 31, 2019

This month saw many teams testing their skills in an open water setting. The UK hosted two outdoor events over the first weekend of August with the third UK Sea Water Polo Championship organised by Lyme Splash in Lyme Regis and the ManUp! Water Polo Festival in Salford Quays.

The UK Sea Water Polo Championship showcased 40 games with nearly 500 players taking part. The 18 teams were divided into 9 women’s, 7 men’s, and 2 mixed amateur teams. The players also enjoyed camping over the weekend and a social BBQ on Saturday night. In the women’s competition, Southampton Sirens came out on top with the Welsh Warriors coming second. The men’s competition was won by Valley Dragons/Cwm Draig with Exeter & Taunton in second place. Lyme Launchers won the amateur event with Lyme Luggers in the second spot.  This was a fantastic weekend of fun and sport at the UK’s only sea water polo competition.

Lyme Splash 2019, image credit Malcolm Greenslade

At the ManUp! Festival 12 teams braved the cold Quays (in beautiful weather) to showcase the sport to the many passers by. Of the 4 women’s teams Manchester proved victorious after beating City of Liverpool on penalties.  Of the 8 men’s teams Castleford were triumphant.

ManUp! Festival in Salford Quays

Part of the fun of being in a team is getting to go on a team tour especially if that is abroad.  This month 19 Enfield juniors enjoyed a week of intensive water polo in Bugibba, Malta.  Daily outdoor sessions took place in the sea and at local pools as players were put through their paces by elite international coaches. They also got to watch some top levelmatches.  A fantastic opportunity for the players to experience water polo at a high level.

Enfield Juniors in Malta

Mediterranean-based training for Enfield Juniors!

The Crystal Palace Beacon program enjoyed a training trip to Hungary. Another week of intensive training, tournaments and bonding.  Thanks to the program and Balazs for organising this excellent experience for our young athletes!

England has also enjoyed its fair share of the good weather this summer.  Great to see Enfield Water Polo club capitalising on it at an outdoor training session at London’s Hampstead Lido.  Lucky things!

Hampstead Lido…there are worse places to train!

Hillingdon Penguins know how to celebrate the end of the season with a day of events for club members and supporters to relax and enjoy themselves.  The day started with an End of Term Fun Tournament in which 5 scratch teams competed.  This was followed by a party.  A big thank you was said to the coaches in recognition of all their hard work during the year.  There was then the award of trophies to recognise those players who had made a particular contribution to the club.  Below are the recipients of the under 15 Team Award.  Well done to everyone who was awarded a trophy!

West London Penguin U15s Team Award; Coach Shaun with Murali, Jenson, Sam, Matthew, Alfie, Lucas, Hadi, Alex Rothwell, Joel, Oliver, Lize, Thalia and Órlaith

Looking forward to events coming up in September.  We wish good luck to City of Manchester swimmers who are taking part in the 2nd annual sponsored outdoor swim to raise funds for the club.  The event will take place during the afternoon of Sunday 8 September at Sale Water Park.  Do pop along to support the event if you can.

This month we are also looking forward to the release of ‘The Shiny Shrimps’ on 6 September.  This is a feel good film based loosely around a water polo theme.

Good luck also to all English club teams participating in the 19th International Tournament in Amsterdam at the beginning of September.

The sport is always looking for Table Officials.  Below are the details of a course being run in Watford on 19/20 October.

There are also still places available on the Plymouth based coaching course.  Note that bookings close on 5 September.

Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to report the passing of Fred Holehouse, the co-founder and President of Invicta Water Polo Club. Fred was a stalwart of the English Water Polo club game and an inspiration to a generation of players and volunteers in Kent Water Polo and beyond. He will be missed.  Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

We hope you find this report of interest.  We aim to showcase what has been going on in English Water Polo clubs over the last month and flag up forthcoming events.  If you have any news that you would like to share about your club please contact me at ah@waterpoloengland.org

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.