Water Polo Nationals 2019

Newton Abbot's U19 boys strike gold at water polo nationals

27/05/2019 (Article taken from Swim England Website)

Newton Abbot celebrated ecstatically as they won the U19 boys title at the Swim England Water Polo National Age Group Championships, beating City of Manchester 10-7.

Ollie Stanley put Newton Abbot ahead with an early goal and that, along with a hat-trick from Joe Hubble, helped them take a 4-2 lead at the end of the first period.

Their advantage extended to three goals in the second period as Tom Hunt got off the mark, but back-to-back penalties had Manchester trailing by just one goal midway through the period.

That was until Hunt put one hand on the trophy with another three goals to ensure Newton Abbot were 8-4 clear at half-time.

Manchester scored two goals without reply in the third period to give them hope of a comeback, but Hubble scored his fourth of the game in the final period and Hunt took his tally to five goals to seal the win.

Newton Abbot goalie Tom Manley produced a brilliant save in the dying seconds to show exactly why he was named both Most Valuable Player and Best Goalkeeper.

As his players celebrated with the trophy, Newton Abbot head coach Rhys Tamlyn said: “It’s been fantastic, we’ve been total underdogs the whole weekend, I think everyone would’ve written us off and thought we only played for third or fourth place.

“But people forget that the bulk of the team played in the South West regionals and won it last year and we’ve got a couple of superstars in the team.

“I thought getting into the final would be our final, and then we started bossing the game in the second quarter, we got ahead.

“It was a hanging on scenario towards the end but the boys really did dig deep and I think they’re a bit shocked as well.”

Team Manager Elizabeth Mann said: “I’m extremely proud. The bulk of the boys are from Newton Abbot and they’re all South West boys who have played together for the last four or five so this is like the coming together of all their hard work.

“A lot of the boys have been friends for four or five years and this is the end of their junior career really and it’s just great that they’ve ended on a high.”

City of Manchester may take solace from their improvement, having won bronze in 2018.

National Selections

Oliver Wright and Thomas Manley have been selected for the England and GB Juniors men water polo squad. Congratulations!

International Success for Thomas Manley

Thomas Manley made an impact on the international scene as he was part of the Great Britain’s Men’s U19 side that reached the the LEN European Championships in Minsk, Belarus.

It was one of the highlights during a successful year for Manley, who also trained with the senior men’s side in the run up to the competition.

His success helped see him named as the Swim England Performance Athlete of the Year for water polo.

He said: “ I feel very honoured to win this award against all of the top water polo players in the country.

 “I’m so glad I have been recognised for my achievements in the past year. I would like to thank my coaches and, most importantly, I can’t forget about them, my parents.

 “They ferry me around everywhere, providing me with money, making sure I have a wonderful time and are always there supporting me, no matter what.”

South West u14 Girls

Felicity Lamont Tuckett was selected to pay in the South west U14 girls team, in the recent National Inter regional Championships, held at Walsall. They were narrowly beaten by the North West, winning silver medal.

Knock Out Cup

Congratulations to Newton Abbot water Polo U17 team who have retained the Devon Water Polo U17 Knock Out Cup for the 3rd year in a row, beating Devonport 17 -8.

Teignbridge Sport and Leisure Awards 2018

Congratulations to Phil Shears - winner of Teignbridge Sport and Leisure Coach of the Year 

As a coach at Newton Abbot, Phil gives up several hours a week to train the U15, U17 and ladies squads. He also coaches home and away for the above teams.

Phil Shears has successfully coached Newton Abbot U17 team to win the 2017 Devon League, Devon Knockout Cup and Bristol and West Juniors league.

He also coaches the Newton Abbot Ladies team who won the 2017 Devon Knockout Cup and the 2017/18 Devon Ladies League. 

Adding to this success he has coached Newton Abbot U15s to win the 2017 National Age Group Championships in October 2017. To compound this success, the U16 team won the 2018 National Age Groups in April 2018, improving on the previous years Bronze medal position.

Phil is a much appreciated, highly respected coach at Newton Abbot, and within the county.

The U17 team came 2nd in the Junior Team of the Year catergory. 

Thomas Manley came 3rd in the Senior Sportsperson of the Year.

South West Polo Selections

Congratulations to Joshua Wardle (16) and Joshua Tomlinson (14) who have been selected to play for the South West U18 boys team in the Inter Regional Championships in Sheffield, in February.

Joshua Tomlinson has also been invited to the National Waterpolo Academy for 2004 born boys. The academy is for the top 30 boys in their age group, nationally.

National Water Polo Title for U17 Girls

Newton Abbot SC Water Polo claims national title

Newton Abbot Under 17 girls’ Waterpolo team followed up last year’s Under 15s to win the 2018 National title. 

Newton Abbot defeated a strong London Otter side 9-6 to take the title in front of a full house at the Manchester Aquatic Centre last weekend. Otter, who beat the Devon side 2 years ago to take the under 15 title could not match the speed, power and superior technique of the Newton side.  
The improvement in the Newton Abbot team shocked the opposition throughout this year’s competition.  The players and team improved throughout the rounds and although not having lost a game in the qualifying rounds still went into finals weekend as underdogs for the title.

The Newton team sent a strong message to the other semi finalists with a convincing win over Cheltenham in the semi-finals, whilst in the other semi-final round Otter beat a strong Tyldesley team. 

The final took place on Sunday with London Otter at full strength with five England players in their starting seven. Newton took an early lead which they held to half time in a very tight first half. In the third quarter Otter came back to lead the game 6-5 for the first time. Going into the final quarter the  Newton coaches refocused the team on their defensive structure and the transition in to offence.

This resulted in Newton Abbot scoring four unanswered goals in the last quarter to take the title 9-6. 

Coaches Sue Webb and Phil Shears were delighted with the team’s performance and the national title, and joined players in the pool as the final whistle blew.

Phil said: “It is impossible to single out any one individual as all 12 players were outstanding throughout the competition. The support and encouragement they gave each other was incredible and proved invaluable in the early rounds when they ground out hard fought victories against Sheffield, Rotherham and Cheltenham.  

“Although South West players had been largely overlooked by the England coaching set-up, following this weekend’s competition all the Newton players have been invited to trial for the England squad in either May or June - only one of the players having been previously selected for the squad.

“As a club, Newton Abbot has been building towards this for four years, and the support of sponsors three years ago allowed the club to invest in the players and enter the competitions. Special thanks must go to Ian Woolley IW dental laboratories, Centrax Gas Turbines and Ian Manley of SafeMark Roadmarking Limited, without whose support we would never have achieved the national titles.”

http://www.swimming.org/waterpolo/otter-newton-abbot-win-national-titles/

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