On 19th and 20th June the RTC Academy competed against teams from other more established and more competitive RTC's in the Inter-Region Academy Championships.  The matches took place at Walsall Baths, but contained teams from Scotland, Ireland, London, North West, South West, West Midlands and North East.

 

This was the first competitive match that the team had faced together.  The boys, who train at Hucknall Baths on a Sunday from 3-5pm, would test the way they gelled as a team under pressure and against opposition of a high calibre.  They showed great spirit and resolve to get to the pool and compete against larger more active regions with squads that have a long history of competing in this competition.

 

All but the last game was lost, however positive attitudes from the players provided lessons from each game.  The players listened to the encouragement and direction from the coaches (Fran Endy & Colin Robbins). The team suffered from not having a goal keeping specialist and would welcome any player with this specific skill to join the regional team. During this tournament the goal keeping duties were shared amongst the team to provide everyone with the experience.  During one game 9 exclusion fouls were conceded, but only conceded two goals in this time, which is excellent man-down water polo by any standard.

 

On Sunday, Joe Scarborough joined the team as a goalkeeper and made some excellent saves, including 2 penalties! The other highlights came from Jordan and Elliott as top goal scorers for the East Midlands. Tom and Joe were our top defenders with some excellent marking of the centre forwards.

 

Finally, the teams we played nominated Jack as our most valuable player.

 

Well done to Jack and the rest of the Squad. Also thanks must go to Colin and Fran.

 

Let's look forward to next year's competition and begin building a stronger team now.

 

Team:

 

Ben Greenhill (Leicester), Dan Bosworth (Grantham), Elliott Potter (Grantham), Jack Shennan (Grantham), Jordan Elliot (Leicester), Peter Hunter (Hinkley), Tom Ballaam (Grantham), Bradley Shires (Hinkley), Will Wheeler (Hinkley), Joe Spencer (Hinkley), Daniel Wright (Hinkley), Phil Fletcher (Grantham), Joe Scarborough (Grantham).

 

Coaches: Fran Endy, Colin Robbins