London Otter win the 2015 U15 Girls National Water Polo Championships

London Otter ’01s claimed the girls’ title after a thrilling day of action at the ASA National Age Group Water Polo Championships (U15) at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

Otter entered two teams in the championships the older Otter ’01s & the younger Otter '02s. It was the first time either team had played in the Championships and it was another brilliant result for our Otter juniors, who now hold the 2015 U/15, U/17 titles, and were runners up in the U/19s age group.  

The Otter '01s opened their 2015 campaign with an immediate display of strength, a commanding 21-1 victory over last year’s champions, City of Manchester, before posting posting emphatic wins in all remaining group games, Cheltenham (23-2), Rotherham Metro (7-2), and Tyldesley (13-2), to finish top of the Group A
 
The semi-final action saw London Otter ’01s overcome Welsh Wanderers 12-5. 
Before coming up against City of Liverpool in the final. Liverpool jumped out to an advantage, scoring two quick-fire goals in the first three minutes of the final before London Otter ’01s responded quickly, equalising in less than a minute before scoring a further two goals to set the scores at 4-2 heading into the break. Despite strong attacks from City of Liverpool in the second half of the match, London Otter ’01s held their nerve & scored 3 more times sealing their U15 Girls Water Polo Championships 2015 title 7-3 with a final goal in the last 10 seconds from Drew Goold. 
 
Otter '01 captain Lily Turner was named Most Valuable player of the tournament, with Barbola Toth named best Goal Keeper. “I am delighted. I couldn’t be happier for the team,” said Lily Turner. “This is the first time we have competed here so it feels great to leave as national champions. ”Our older age group won the Under 17 championships earlier this year and I think that really spurred us on as team.”
 
The Otter 02's also performed extremely strongly, finishing 6th overall after posting wins over City of Manchester (10-1) & Cheltenham (9-1) in the 5th-9th Place Playoff Group. A brilliant result from a very young team in their first National Championships. 
 
U15 GIRLS WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIPS 2015 OVERALL MVPS:
•    Highest Goal Scorer – Nia Sanders (Welsh Wanderers)
•    Goal Keeper – Barbola Toth (Otter ’01s)
•    Overall Most Valuable Player – Lily Turner (Otter ’01s)

Otter win two from two in Grantham

Otter won two from two this weekend in Grantham. Beating Caledonia 14-9 on Saturday before running away with a 21-2 win vs Leeds on Sunday. Both games were solid team performances, with every field player netting v Leeds.

There's a familiar look to the top women's division of BWPL again this year, with Liverpool Lizards, City of Manchester, City of Coventry and Otter all lining up for the Super 5s places - with a weekend of competition still to be played. Sheffield Sharks and City of Leeds are best placed to challenge for the final slot. 

The final rounds of Phase 1 will be played on November 14th & 15th in Matlock. Where Otter will face Coventry & Sheffield.  

Otter scorers v Caledonia:  Claudia & Izzy (3), Holly & Mhairi (2), Kate, Brooke, Peggy & Hannah (1). Otter scorers v Leeds: Lex & Holly (4), Lizi, Claudia & Izzy (2), Mhairi, Brooke, Emma, Peggy, Kathy, Hannah & Kate (1).

Holly in action, top scoring for Otters over the weekend with 6 goals over the two games. 

Hannah Patchett awarded AASE Water Polo Apprentice of the Year.

Congratulations to Otter Hannah Patchett who has been awarded the 2015 AASE (Athlete Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence) Water Polo Apprentice of the Year.

The Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence is a government-funded initiative that's been designed to help young people aged 16 to 18 combine education and sport. 
It’s aimed at athletes who have the potential of achieving excellence in their sport – and want to make a career of performing at the highest level – but who also want to continue their education. We're so proud of you Hannah and all your achievements in and out of the pool. 

More info on the award can be found here found here:http://www.swimming.org/ios/apprenticeships/aase/

Strong start for Otter in BWPL Div 1

Otter outplayed promoted West London Penguin in the opening game of the women's BWPL Division 1 season in Watford on Saturday. Otter lead from the start, winning the first quarter 3-1 before pulling away to lead 8-2 at half time, 12-2 at the end of the third quarter before winning the game 16-3. It was a solid team performance, with new Otters Claudia & Kate settling into the team quickly. It was also great to see Hannah, Izzy, Mhairi & Kathy, all who played for Lutra last year, stepping up and performaing well in their first, 1st team game. 

Otter had it tougher vs Manchester on Sunday morning. Otter recovered strongly from 8-5 down in the third quarter before narrowly falling short of snatching a draw in the final minutes of the game. Leaving Manchester to take the points with a 9-8 win. 

2 hours after the Manchester game, Otter were back in action against defending champions Liverpool who proved to strong for Otter on this occasion winning the physical encounter 14-10. 

Otter scorers V Penguins : Lex 5, Claudia 3, Emma 2, Izzy, Mhairi, Brooke, Peggy, Kathy, Hannah. 

Otter scorers v Manchester: Lex 2, Claudia 2, Emma 2, Hannah & Mhairi.

Otter scorers v Liverpool: Claudia 2, Emma 2, Kate 2, Lex, Mhairi, Brooke, Kathy.

Great start to the season for Otter Lutra

Otter Lutra kicked off their BWPL Championship 1 title defence in Ponds Forge on the 12th & 13th of September. 

Lutra started the 2015/2016 competition with a 4-4 draw vs Hucknall. Helena, Lindsey, Gari & Bugsy finding the back of the net in the low scoring first game that was dominated by solid defense from both teams.

Lutra hit their stride in the second match of the weekend rolling Manchester Coments 14-5. Helena & Lindsey top scored for Lutra with 4 goals each. Gary added 3, with Yedden, Anna & Izzy added 1 a piece. 

The win & a draw see Otter sitting second on the table with 3 points behind Mid Sussex Marlins. For full results, scorecards & the standings please see check out the BWPL website. 

Lutra will be back in action on Saturday 17th & Sunday 18th of October at Malborough College, where they will face Mid Sussex Marlins, Tyldesley & Liverpool Liverbirds. 

Buller appointed GB U19 coach for 2016 season

Nick Buller and Tim Dunsbee have been appointed as head coaches of the England women’s and men’s U19 water polo squads respectively for the 2016 season.

Both teams will be aiming to qualify for the European U19 Water Polo Championships with the women’s event taking place in Gouda (women’s) and Alphen (men’s) in the Netherlands next summer.

Buller guided the Great Britain 1998 women’s squad through qualification for the inaugural European Games and to an 11th place finish at the Games in Baku.

“I’m pleased to have been given the opportunity to show what this squad can achieve,” said Buller. “This is an exciting time to be involved with the national team as the level of players is improving all the time. The Baku European Games was a good starting point and future teams will only learn and build from that experience. I’ll be looking closely at not only those who went to Baku and those going to Greece for the Under 20 World Championships in August, but also the many emerging talents coming through and the players who maybe only just missed out on selection previously. Our goal is to build a strong outfit and perform well at next year’s Championships, and with the talent available I’m confident we can achieve that.”

Buller will appoint the remainder of his coaching team in the next few weeks in conjunction with Water Polo Management Group performance lead Phil Winstanley and England Water Polo manager Ian Elliot.

Great Britain finish 14th at World Junior Championships

The British women’s U20 water polo team brought the curtain down on their World Junior Championships in Volos, Greece with a battling defeat to European giants the Netherlands.

After finishing bottom of their group, GB bounced back with a mature performance in a 10-4 victory over South Africa in the classifications round to guarantee a top-14 finish  and meet their target for the competition.

The British squad continued in the same vein in their final classification match against the Dutch, one of the ‘big six’ European women’s water polo nations, matching their opponents in the first half before fading in the third and fourth quarters to a 22-7 defeat.  

Massive congratulations to Otter's Brooke & Kathy who represented GB at the tournament. We're incredibly proud of you, and looking forward to have you back at for Otter in the upcoming BWPL season. 

Otters represent GB at FINA World Women’s Junior Water Polo Championships

Congratulations to Otters Brooke Tafazolli & Kathy Rogers who have been selected in the Great Britain Under 20’s team for this weeks FINA World Women’s Junior Water Polo Championships.

The Championships will take place in Volos (GRE) from August 17-23, 2015, gathering 16 teams from the five continents.  Great Britain has been drawn in Group A alongside Russia, Greece, & Japan.

GROUP A: Russia, Greece, Japan, Great Britain
GROUP B: Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand, Hungary
GROUP C: Netherlands, Canada, Italy, Australia
GROUP D: Mexico, Spain, USA, Ukraine 

The preliminary round is staged on August 17-19, with GB taking on bronze medalists & hosts Greece on Mon 17th, Japan on Tues 18th & then Russia in the final prelim game on Wed 19th. The Qualification round will then be played on the August 20, with Quarter Finals on the 21st, Semi Finals on the 22nd and the Final on August 23.

Team GB: Lauren Tasker (capt), Brooke Tafazoli (joint vice capt), Rhianne Oscroft (joint vice capt), Kate Read, Megan Gaunt, Rosie Huck, Izzy Howe, Katy Andrew, Kate Parkin, Kathy Rogers, Honor Grimes.

Otter leading London League

After two rounds of play Otter are at the top of the Division 1 London League table. Otter have won all 4 games played, beating: West London Penguins 7-0, Beckenham 8-3, Mid Sussex 6-2 & 6-1. And Chelmsford who forfeited the fixture.

Good luck to Otter who are playing the final round of fixtures on Sunday July 12. The team will take on Beckenham, West London Penguins & Chelmsford, and are hoping for a clean sweap to take out the London League title. 

GB Captain & Otter Izzy Dean looks proudly back on Baku 2015 Games

Team GB water polo captain Izzy Dean insisted the Brits’ could be proud of their Baku 2015 European Games campaign after finishing 11th overall. 

The Brits defeated Isreal 10-5 in their last match of the Games to finish their challenge on a high after seven matches in as many days. Defeat to Serbia in their penultimate game ultimately cost the Brits a top 10 place – their target going into the tournament, having snuck through the qualifiers on goal difference earlier in the year. 

Dean was adamant the team would only take positives from their experience in Baku, having played three of the top six European water polo nations in the form of Greece, the Netherlands and Hungary, for the first time in the careers of all but one of the squad. “We learned so much,’’ said Dean. “It was just an invaluable experience for us all. “It was our first time competing in such a high multi-sport event, and only one of us had ever competed in a European Water Polo Championships before. So it was definitely a great start for our water polo careers.”