Goulash and Goals for Bradford's Polo Juniors!
19 Aug 2018
Bradford’s junior water polo squad have returned from a superbly successful trip to Hungary, where, after watching an all-star international match at the 5,000-seater indoor stadium in Budapest, they began five days of busy action in a wonderful park complex in the southern town of Szentes.
The first two days were devoted to training and practice matches against teams from Switzerland and the Szentes club, which is one of the strongest in a country that has won more Olympic water polo golds than any other nation. Day three saw the start of a tournament spread over three pitches and involving 40 teams of different age groups and 100 matches.
And what a start! Breakfast at 5.30am for coach Jim Robinson and the players and a first match starting at 7am against powerful Szentes, who much later were to emerge as champions of 14-and-under section.
Bradford were beaten. And this meant that winning the next match against Bulgarian team KVT Botev Vraca became far more important – if only because the losers knew they would also be consigned to 7am starts on each of the last two days! Fortunately, we managed a comfortable 18-11 victory, a result that eventually, after further matches against teams from Bulgaria, Hungary, Denmark and Crystal Palace (London), was to earn Bradford a creditable eighth place out of 12 teams in the group.
The visit was designed to broaden the experience of the Bradford squad – not just in acquiring a taste for loads of goulash! In all we played nine full matches (one team member estimated he had spent 18 hours in the water during the week) and returned with a trophy, proudly received on behalf of the squad by goalkeeper Michael Bancroft, voted Bradford’s most improved player.
Once the club’s summer break is over, we will be rebuilding the Bradford squad at our sessions in Bradford (Wednesdays, 8pm) and Stonar School (Thursdays, 7pm). It’s a perfect opportunity for Swim Club members to give the sport a try. If you are interested and need more information, please contact Chris Ducker, [email protected].