Futura U/17s in National Age Group Plate finals

The Otter Futura girls were back in action this weekend in the National Age Group U17 Girls Plate finals in Manchester. 

Futura were drawn in a tough Group B, alongside Tyldesley & Welsh Wanders. The young Otter team who continued to improve throughout the finals, made it tough for Tyldesley in the first match before going down 5-3. They then put 4 goals past eventual group winners & Competition runners up Welsh Wanders loosing 9-4. Undeterred the Futura girls took on Cheltenham in the 5th / 6th Play off, and finished on a high, winning the match 8-5 to finish the competition on a high. Congratulations to all of the girls who played this weekend and throughout the championships. We're very proud of you all.  

Full results from the competition can be found on the ASA Waterpolo hub here.
 

Futura U/19s in the National Age Group Plate finals

The Otter Futura girls were back in action this weekend in the National Age Group U19 Girls Plate finals in Manchester. Futura were drawn in Group B, alongside Northampton & City of Leeds. Otter started strongly with a tightly contested 9-8 win over Northampton, before going down 5-2 to City of Leeds. The loss meant Futura finished 2nd in the group and played Caledonia in the Bronze medal match. Congratulations to Caledonia who won the bronze game 6-3. And a massive congratulations to all of the Otter Futura girls everyone played so well all weekend and throughout the competition.  

Full results from the competition can be found on the ASA Waterpolo hub here.
 

4 Otter teams in action this weekend

Good luck to the all the players competing in the National Age Group U/17 & U/19 Championships this weekend in Manchester. Otter are well represented at the final weekend of the Championships with 4 teams in action. 

The Otter U/17s kick off their U/17 title defence on Saturday in the semi final vs Exeter @12:25pm. The Gold & Bonze medal games will be played on Sunday.

The Otter U/19s will be looking to go one better than last year where they finished as runners up in the U/19s competition. The U/19s are in action on Saturday at 4:45pm vs City of Manchester. The winner will go through to Sundays Gold Medal game, while the loser will play off on Sunday for Bronze.

Both of the Otter development teams are also in action this weekend in the plate finals. The Otter Futura U/19s take on Northampton @11:50am & City of Leeds at 3:30pm Saturday. While the Otter Futura U/17s are in action on Sunday vs Tyldesley at 12:10pm & Welsh Wanderers at 2:40pm. 

Good luck Otter Pups!

 

 

2016 British Water Polo Championship Draw Announced

The draw for the 2016 British Water polo Championship has been announced. 

The competition which will be held at the G1 Leisure Centre in Gloucester on 14th & 15th May sees the top 4 teams from the 2015 /2016 BWPL league play off in a semi final & final format to be crowned the 2016 British Champions. Otter go into the competition ranked 2nd behind City of Liverpool (1st), with Coventry (3rd) & Caledonia stepping in to replace Manchester in 4th place.

Otter will be aiming to overcome 3rd ranked Coventry in Saturdays semi final as they did at the Championships in 2014. Results between the two teams have been split this season with Otter winning 11-8, Coventry winning 9-5 & a 9all draw. The winner will progress to the final where they will face the winner of the Liverpool vs Caledonia semi. 

For more information on the championships & all the latest news in the lead up to the event check out the official facebook page & twitter feed:

Game times are: Saturday 14th May 14:30pm Otter v Coventry, 7pm Liverpool vs Caledonia. Sunday 15th May 9:30am Ladies Bronze Medal Match, 12:30pm Mens Gold Medal Match.  

The Otter team for the competition is: Tracey Allen (goal keeper), Brooke Tafazolli (Vice captain), Claudia Ferrone, Holly Campbell, Izzy Dean, Kathy Rogers, Lex Higlett, Lilly Turner, Lizzie Dunn, Mhari Nurthen, Peggy Etiebet (Captain) & Rebecca Mulcahy 

 

 

 

 

Holly set to represent Scotland

Massive congratulations to Otter ladies 1st team counter attacker & sharp shooter Holly Campbell who has been selected to represent Scotland at the EU Nations Senior Women International Tournament in Prague, June 2016.

Scotland Senior Womens team: Chantal Guillot (GK) & Jess Ivy (GK), Alison Tate, Carys Hardy, Emma Bird, Fran Collings, Gael Logan, Holly Campbell, Jenn Davis, Julia Mackay, Laura Mathewson, Nicola Tate & Susan Johnstone.

Reserves: Rhona Cartwright (GK), Alison Thompson & Caitlin McRobbie. 

Otter U/19s through to National Age Group Championship finals

The Girls’ U19 qualifiers 2016 in the National Age Group Water Polo Championships took place over the weekend in Watford. 

Five teams including last years Champions City of Manchester, City of Liverpool, Otter, Mid Sussex Marlins & Exeter battled over the weekend with four teams qualifying for the finals in just under two weeks. 

City of Liverpool qualified in first place clearly announcing their intentions going through their 4 matches unbeaten. City of Manchester came in second with 3 wins while London Otter went two for two, beating both Exeter and Mid Sussex Marlins. Mid Sussex Marlins grabbed the last spot with a win over Exeter. Full results from the weekend can be found here.

The finals will take place on the 23-24 of April at the Manchester Aquatics Centre, Booth Street East, Manchester, M13 9SS. Otter will take on City on City of Manchester in the 2nd vs 3rd match on Saturday & will be hoping to progress into Sundays Final.

Saturday 23rd March 15:40 City of Liverpool v Mid Sussex Marlins  Semi Final
Saturday 23rd March 16:45 City of Manchester v Otter Semi Final
Sunday 24th March 14:10 Loser SF 1 v Loser SF 2 Bronze Playoff
Sunday 24th March 15:20 Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2  Final

Mhairi in attack for Otter

Mhairi in attack for Otter

 

 

5 Otters attend GB U/19s training camp

Last week, five Otters attended the Great Britain Under 19 women’s squad camp in Manchester, to begin their preparation for September’s European U19 Water Polo Championships in Gouda, The Netherlands.

The newly formed squad includes members of last year’s GB U19 team including Otters Kathy Rogers & Hannah Patchett, a number of new faces including Otter & GB U1 pla Izzy Dean & Mhairi Nurthen, & talented youngsters who are breaking through the ranks, like Otters Lily Turner.

Read more about their week in camp on Hannah & Kathy's blog here. 

Sasha & the England U17 win Bronze

Otter Sasha Tinkler-Davies & the England U17 girls’ water polo team take bronze at the EU Nations Cup 2016 in Odense, Denmark.
The England U17 girls water polo team opened their EU Nations Cup 2016 campaign with two wins and one defeat in the group stages before falling to South Africa in their semi-final. But the 13-strong squad finished the competition on a high note with an impressive 11-6 victory over Malta to see England win bronze at the EU Nations Cup 2016 – an improvement of two places from 12 months ago.
England bounced back from their semi-final defeat with a strong opening quarter against Malta, who had defeated them in the first game of the tournament. Emily Pilkington opened the scoring early before adding a second goal and Rebecca Lee saw England end the first quarter with a 3-1 lead. After winning the second quarter swim-off, Fleur Kennedy scored twice to maintain England’s two goal lead going into halftime (6-4). The team held their lead consistently throughout the third quarter (7-5) before ending on a high with a final goal from Sasha Tinkler-Davies sealing a 11-6 final score and the third place on the rostrum.
Congrats to Sasha & the England team on the Bronze.


ENGLAND GIRLS’ 1999 SQUAD: Naya Patel – Grantham & Hucknall, Emily Pilkington – Sedgefield, Emily Watkins – Bristol, Jordan Parsons – Devonport Royal, Fleur Kennedy – Warley Water Polo, Sam Murby – Lancaster, Ellie Muncaster – Liverpool, Abbie Turner – Northampton, Sasha Tinkler-Davies – Otter, Frances Holder – Liverpool, Lauren Richardson – Leeds, Rebecca Lee – Manchester & Jennifer Herring – Exeter

Sasha represents England U17s

Otter Lutra player Sasha is representing England U17 Womens Waterpolo team at the EU Nations Cup in Denmark this weekend. @ENGWaterPolo we'll be poolside for live scores & streaming. Good luck Sasha!

 

 

Otter U/17s through to NAG Finals

Six-time champions City of Manchester have finished at the top of the Girls’ U17 Qualifiers 2016 table last weekend as they maintained their unbeaten record heading into next month’s finals. The qualifiers played at the Liverpool Aquatics Centre, were full of action. Defending champions Otter started slowly going down to City of Manchester (8-3 ) & Exeter (13-7) before securing their spot in the finals and a 3rd place ranking with a 5-4 win over Rotherham.


The Girls U17 Finals 2016 will take place at the Manchester Aquatics Centre from 23-24 April. A win in Saturdays 2nd vs 3rd Semi against Exeter will see Otter progress to the final where they will take on either  Manchester or Rotherham for the title.