Water Polo

In its inaugural season at Emanuel,Water Polo has gone from strength to strength. We are very fortunate to be geographically well placed for fixtures, at least ten local schools also play which has allowed for tremendous growth. The sport itself dovetails superbly well with a range of other sports, building understanding of tactical and strategic decision making for invasion games as well as demanding high intensity cardio-vascular output under relatively limited impact. The result is the skills of many different types of sports coming together to create some brilliant team performances. This was well highlighted by our U13 mixed squad’s success in their first-round regional tournament with pupils from netball, hockey, football and rugby teams all coming together and bringing a slightly different perspective on how to unlock an opposition defence. The U12 and U14 squads, whilst not having national tournaments for their age groups, have had some good fixtures. Both teams were competitive against strong opposition and displayed grit and determination to remain in the fight.

The U18 squad, made up of U14 and U16 pupils, competed in the English Schools Swimming Association (ESSA) national U18 tournament.They came third in their qualifying round and progressed to the plate semi-finals. Playing predominantly against pupils older than them, results were always going to be hard to come by but the pupils applied themselves admirably throughout and held their own against some very competitive opposition. The foundations are in place for an exciting future.