The South East U16 Girls Water-Polo Team travelled to Liverpool on the 28th and 29th May 2016 to play in the Inter Regional Tournament. Following a disappointing campaign in 2015, where the girls unfortunately to failed to win any games, the SE went to the 2016 event ranked 11th of the 11 competing Regions. It was therefore a tremendous result for the South East to reach the semi finals of the tournament, finishing in a deserved 4th place!
The SE team was:
| Lottie APPS | Charlie BOND | Anashe CHISADZA |
| Liv HENDERSON | Hannah GOODHEAD | Sarah ROGERS |
| Lucy HELLIWELL | Evie FAWKES | Lily TURNER |
| Amber RESTALL | Grace TURNER |
The SER was one of the youngest teams in the Tournament. Experienced players, Lily, Sarah and Anashe played every minute of every game, not only guiding the less experienced players in the pool but mentoring their younger team mates during the tournament. Captain - Lily showed skills and leadership throughout and was justifiably chosen as the South East’s Most Valuable Player. The team entered the tournament without a recognised goalkeeper, Grace volunteered to go in goal and made a string of exceptional saves.
The SER girls achieved the following results:
| Group games on 28th May 2016 | ||
| North East Steelers | 4 – 10 | South East |
| London Sharks | 9 – 7 | South East |
| North West Lightening | 1- 6 | South East |
| South East | 8 – 3 | Scotland Saltires |
| Finals on 29th May 2016 | ||
| Ireland | 7 -0 | South East |
| Bronze Medal match | ||
| South East | 4 – 8 | London |
Ireland went on to win the tournament.
Water-polo continues to thrive in the SE, all but 3 of the team that competed at the end of May are eligible to play in the same event in 2017 . Five members of the team are eligible to play in the Under 14 Inter Regional Tournament in December 2016.
Special thanks goes to Team Managers: Debbie Helliwell and Jill Rogers.
Steve BOND
SER Coach
