Congratulations to our U18 Girls Water Polo team who won bronze at Monday’s U18 ESSA National Plate Final, hosted at Marlborough College, with two wins, a draw and a narrow loss.
The scores were:
This is an incredible result, considering that nine of the 12 girls involved had never played water polo before joining in September.
Mr King, Director of Sport, says, “The progress the group has made is staggering, even from the 1st round competition just last week, when we lost to Colfe’s 7-4. It is easy to highlight both Lily (international water polo) and Izzy (national swimming), who were superb throughout and scored most of our goals. However, there were also brilliant performances to highlight from Lower Sixth students Georgina, Nell, Charlotte and Zara, who all only started playing water polo in September. Well done to all.”
Lower Sixth student Nell said, “Prior to Trinity I had zero exposure to water polo, so when the opportunity arose I was more than happy to participate. As a swimmer I already had a level of confidence, but the team have made water polo exciting and really fostered enthusiasm. The matches and training sessions are not only productive but fun and being part of this team is the highlight of my sporting experiences at Trinity. It’s provided me with the opportunity to learn a new skill and compete against other schools in prestigious settings.
“The ESSA National Plate competition took place after we had only ever played five matches together. In the tournament, Colfes – who we had played before – remained undefeated and we faced them in our final game. We were able to take what we had learned in training, coupled with the sense of teamwork and collaboration that Mr King had fostered, to achieve a 3-3 draw. This was a happy progression from our first match against them, in which they won by a significant margin. This, along with our multiple wins at Marlborough College, left us with the bronze place medal, a happy success for all.
“The girls involved are mostly beginners and all of us are learning as we play, so the advice and encouragement from the experienced players, like team captain Lily, has ensured that we all not only play well but enjoy playing. The relationships between the girls is a core part of the game, although we were not all good friends outside the pool, the mutual desire to be a part of the team has created a lovely atmosphere of friendship between us. Despite the loss of our Upper Sixth goalkeeper Beth next year, we hope to advance our skills and win some more medals for Trinity in the season to come.”
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