Water polo junior national competitions returned with the Boys U16 (Born 06) Inter-regional competition at Walsall last weekend, 27 & 28 November. West Midlands put out a strong team but with some less experienced players. Trevor Downs and Ben Coeullo coached (with John Halstead resting from his current illness). We hosted Scotland (playing in Division 2) on Friday night for a warm-up practice match.
The first game against London was a relatively easy result (9-3) allowing the team to settle in – Tobias in goal scoring 2 goals. A second, excellent result, against South West followed (9-6). This left us top of the table with tougher matches to come on day 2.
Sunday brought a disappointing result, lost 3-8 to South East (considering we didn’t have to travel) and the obligatory snow. However with South West beating South East the final match became the decider for 1st place. Despite some excellent defending and goalkeeping our strength across the team wasn’t quite a match against the North West Tigers and we lost 4-6. This left us joint second and a bronze medal to add to the silver the boys won at u14 level, 2 years earlier.
The West Midlands also won two coveted accolades, Tobias Ishaque won goalkeeper of the tournament and Tadgh Perry top scorer and West Midlands MVP. Thanks to the organisers, referees, support team and all the parents and other teams for supporting a great tournament.
Next up we have the girls competing this weekend at Walsall for U16 Inter-regionals, so please come along and support the girls.
Nigel Greenwood
Regional Water Polo Coordinator