East and North West on top at Swim England Water Polo Talent Games

Teams from the East and North West talent centres came away with the titles at the Swim England Water Polo Talent Games.

The East centre – in it’s first talent centre year – won both the U16 age group trophies as well as the U14 Female event, whilst the North West claimed the U14 Open crown.

It was another positive event, hosted at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre, with a clear improvement in the standard of water polo on display and educational sessions for players, parents, coaches and officials to enjoy.

Each of the five talent centres competed in matches against one another with two matches played at the Games back in March and the final two rounds in Sandwell last weekend.

It marked an impressive start for the East, especially from their U14 Female and U16 Open teams who both took top spot with a 100% record. They earnt a maximum eight points from their matches with their U14 team securing their place at the top with a 10-7 victory against the South and a comprehensive 19-5 win against North East.

North West finished in second on four points ahead of London due to their head-to-head record after a six-goal salvo in the second period sent them on their way to a 15-12 win.

East in fine form

East were dominant in the U16 Open group, recording a goal difference of 31 across their four matches.

They wrapped up a second gold for the centre with 18-6 and 16-3 wins against North East and South respectively.

The battle for second came down to an equalising goal just 20 seconds from time in a match between London and the North East.

It saw the side from the capital snatch a draw in their matchup to ensure they finished ahead in second on five points as North East took bronze.

The East’s third and final title came in the U16 Female event where they topped the group with seven points out of eight.

Only a 13-13 draw with North West stopped them taking maximum points once again as South finished second – after winning in 2023 – with London third.

North West on top

North West stopped the East clean sweep with an impressive U14 Open title.

It meant that the centre based in Bolton won the event for the second year running with four wins from four.

After a 23-10 win against South they edged out a nail-biting decider with London 11-10.

They marched into a 8-3 lead at half time but had to hold off a late London fight back. London cut the lead to three in the third before scoring two unanswered goals in the final quarter but it wasn’t quite enough to stop the North West regaining the title.

East finished in third place with two wins from their four matches.

‘Our best Talent Games yet’

As well as the excitement in the pool, on Saturday there were a number of educational workshops to support the development of everyone involved in the sport.

For the players, there were in pool fundamental skills workshops led by Great Britain coach Nick Hume for the female players and former GB coach and 2012 Olympian Sean King for the open athletes. They were both assisted by the talent centre coaches who also led a tactical session on the importance and application of movement skills to their game.

Each of the athletes also got the chance to be a part of a Q&A with the GB Women’s U19 team on the back of their European Championship experience last year.

For parents, Swim England Water Polo Programme Lead, Craig Figes, gave them a presentation on the Swim England Talent Pathway whilst coaches were delivered a session on reflective practice and details on the national governing bodies coaching plan by Swim England’s coach development manager Jo John.

This year’s Games also had a workshop for officials on decision making in and around the 2m box from BWPL referee and GB Senior Women’s Water Polo player Katie Brown.

Reflecting on the event, Swim England Water Polo Talent and Inclusion Officer, Andy McGinty said: “Thank you to everyone that supported the Talent Games event last weekend.

“I think this one was our best Talent Games yet with so many workshops and an ever-improving standard of water polo.

“Congratulations to the East and North West Talent Centre’s teams on their victories – but also a huge well done to those who may not have taken home a trophy because we’re really pleased to see how much our athletes and coaches are developing.”

You can find out more about the Swim England Water Polo Talent Centre programmes here and check out all the scores and standings via the scoreboard.