MANUP U15 WINNERS
MANUP U15 WINNERS
Sedgefield Water Polo Club sent a mixed boys and girls U15’s team to compete at the ManUp festival in Nantwich, Cheshire on Saturday 9th July. This was an outdoor tournament which took on a different format to what the players are used to. The smaller pitch and slightly different rules made the games more fun, exciting and fast paced with lots more opportunity to score goals.
Despite the miserable weather on the day, the players were all very excited to be playing in an outdoor lido and were determined to play their best. Parents were well prepared and took a gazebo to shelter from the rain.
The team played their first game against Bridgefield Blues, with a fantastic 13-0 win. Thomas and Theo both scored a fantastic 4 goals each, followed by a hat trick from Tyler and 2 goals from Indie. The next game against Lancaster was exciting to watch and finished with an excellent 11-1 win. Thomas scored another 5 goals whilst Theo scored another 4 and Tyler scored twice. The third game – against Solihul – was much lower scoring but just as exciting as the first two games; final score for this was a 5-1 win, with goals from Vihra, Thomas, Tyler and Theo. The fourth match was against Liverpool was another win; this time 6-2 and goals were scored by Indie, Theo, Thomas and Tyler. This then placed the team into the finals, where they played against Northampton, who took an early lead but were then beaten 4-2. Goalkeeper Aston made some fantastic saves during the course of the day, whilst Jasper and Fynn both worked hard to ensure the ball was passed to those best placed to shoot.
Coach Carole Shaw described the efforts of the team as amazing and praised their teamwork and passing skills. She said it was fantastic to “watch the kids putting skills they’d been taught in training sessions into practice in a competitive environment whilst having fun at the same time”.
