There will not be many current British League players with the time, let alone the required drive and ambition, to take on such a challenging role as new Chair of Swim England’s Water Polo Leadership Group.

Step forward Dr Toby King, who, after helping Southampton win their latest match in men’s Championship 3, is settling into the new job, convinced of the need to build a stronger, more structured future for the sport in this country.

At 50, Toby is definitely one of the League’s more senior players, although not, he stresses, by Southampton standards! Superfit pair Mark Williams, aged 59, and 64-year-old Dave Dunne are still registered to play in Championship 2 after years of yeoman British League service. All three turn out together for Southampton in the Hampshire League, where the crunch game of the season sees the title-winning Southampton Gents – the club’s seasoned old gang – take on Southampton Lads, a team drawn from the younger players.

Toby is a former international triathlete, who represented Great Britain at the World Championships in Mexico (1995) and Australia (1997). His passion for water polo developed during six years at Cambridge University, where he was coached by ex-GB goalkeeper Andy Knight, who of course still plays for Cambridge in the British League.

After his triathlon successes, Toby turned out for Bedford. Then, after a few years working in California, he moved to Southampton, demonstrating his organisational skills by co-founding Southampton WP Club (it split off from the City of Southampton SC) and helping set up the Hampshire network, which encourages junior water polo development in a number of clubs in the area.
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Toby’s professional career involved building and working in small, hi-tech engineering companies, predominantly in the medical devices and renewable energy sectors and he now advises a variety of early stage businesses. He stepped down a while ago from full-time work but is Chair of Trustees at Winchester Science Centre, inspiring curiosity in primary school children;  Deputy Chair of EngineeringUK, the national charity promoting engineering to young people; as well as lecturing on innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of Southampton Business School. 
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Toby lives in Southampton with wife Jacqui and sons Ben (15), Jamie (12) and 10-year-old Sam. He says: “I very much look forward to working with Swim England and I’d like to thank all the people who have sent me their best wishes for the new challenge.”

You may know of the BWPL data system – it’s the powerhouse that drives our registrations, fixtures and results, officials’ scheduling, referee gradings and much more. Invented and developed by James Reddick, of Polytechnic, it’s the essential service that underpins operation of the League.

Given its importance, we are delighted to announce a new era for the system. We have agreed a contract with Exception, the digital solutions company founded by Alan Anderson, of Scottish water polo and Portobello fame, which is taking on its operational support and management.

This is a mutually beneficial arrangement which ensures “the lights stay on” without constant attention from James Reddick and League volunteers.

Will our clubs and users see any difference? No. The website and data system will work exactly as before. Effectively, we have just lifted the bonnet and swapped our old hand-built engine for a more powerful one with a 24/7 service contract.

We actually did the changeover in the first week of January and nobody noticed!
For more information on Exception and the services they offer, see https://exceptionuk.com/
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Penguin completed a perfect opening weekend of men’s Championship 2 fixtures at Watford by registering their third win – 18-9 against Castleford. James Salt (5) and Giampaolo de Rosa (4) were again the main scorers.

After desperately hanging on for a single-goal victory against Worthing on day one at Gloucester, Manchester Hawks survived a similar experience against City of Bristol. The Hawks were 8-3 ahead, then 13-9, but then faced a Bristol revival which led to Stuart Fennell equalising at 16-16 with more than three minutes still to play.

The game progressed to 17-17 before, just 1.12 from the end, Bristol conceded a penalty, converted for the winner at 18-17 by Marcus Crompton. Tom Simpson and Christian Thompson both scored four for Manchester, while Bristol’s chief marksman was Tom Whiting, with five.

In Championship 3, Hucknall’s splendid winning sequence (seven games in Division 4, plus two on day one at Watford) came to an end when they were well beaten 15-9 by York. The match was dominated by York once they built a 4-1 first quarter lead, later improved to 9-3 in the third. Their leading scorers were Will Tomlinson and Nick Boaz, both with four.
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Cheltenham Spartans won both their games at Gloucester, amassing 53 goals. Bridgefield were the latest sufferers, going down 25-12.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): ​Giampaolo de Rosa in action for Penguin at Watford.
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Penguin made the perfect start to the men's Championship 2 campaign at Watford today. Alex Waller, Giampaolo de Rosa and James Salt all claimed hat-tricks in a 14-9 victory over London rivals Otter; then Penguin pulled off what could prove to be a vital 11-9 win over Durham Palatinates.

Durham were actually 6-1 up early on only for Penguin to hit back and grab a 7-6 lead. The game went to 8-8 after three periods, then 9-9, before late goals by de Rosa and Charles Kingsmill clinched the points.

Matches in men's Championship 2 and 3 were split between two venues today - Watford and Gloucester.

At Gloucester, Drazen Videc's four goals helped earn Birmingham a 14-12 win against Manchester Hawks. The young Hawks team bounced back in style later on, edging out Worthing 10-9. Key to this success was Manchester's speedy start - they led 5-0 before Worthing settled, the goals coming from Brett Takemoto (2), Conor Lynch, Tom Simpson and Marcus Crompton. From 10-5 down, Worthing hit back near the end through Vytautas Liubertas, Elliott Hurst and Joe Hazeldine (2) - just too late to deprive the Hawks of a good win.

City of Bristol outplayed Birmingham 22-13. There were also goals aplenty in Championship 3 - Croydon thumped York 22-8, including six goals from Csaba Rekasi, while Cheltenham Spartans' star-studded team, led by nine-goal Rob Parker, swamped Tyldesley 28-13. Hucknall beat Rotherham Metro 12-7 after taking a 6-0 lead; Alex Saunders and Harry Dunkerley both netted four for Bridgefield, 14-10 winners against Southampton.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Otter's Pier Spagna in action against Penguin.

Early warning! The M6 is due to close between Preston and Lancaster (Junction 32-33) during the next three weekends. This, inevitably, will have a significant impact on teams travelling to a couple of BWPL events and we strongly recommend allowing extra journey times. The closures will also affect the alternative A6 route. The League events are:

18/19 January: Women’s Championship 1, Matlock
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25/26 January: Men’s Championship 1 and 4, Lancaster.
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Rotherham Metro girls won their three matches to establish a strong lead at the head of women’s Championship 2 after the first weekend of matches at Walsall.

They had to work hard for their third success, defeating Exeter 11-9. The Devon side held a narrow lead for much of the game but the turning point came late on when Emma Jackson, celebrating her 16th birthday, scored twice to take Metro from 8-8 to 10-8. Emma Raymond replied for Exeter when Rotherham had a player excluded – and Rotherham then missed a penalty. The points were not secured until Lucy Hobman netted for Rotherham 11 seconds from the end.
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There was another close finish as Liverpool Liver Birds edged out Cheltenham 10-9. It was 8-8 early in the final period; then Bethan Richards’ fourth goal and a sixth of the match from Charlotte Hopwood made sure of victory.
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Sheffield Dolphins and City of Newport are the early pacesetters in men’s Championship 4, both teams taking five points from three matches during the first weekend of the campaign at Haberdasher’s Aske’s School.  The teams had drawn a thriller on day one, 15-year-old Corran Bradley scoring the goal just six seconds from the end that brought Dolphins to 12-12.

​Arshia Keyghobadi (Photo: Trevor Hyde) led the way for Dolphins in their third match – he scored nine in a 12-8 defeat of the British Army. Newport trailed 8-5 to Chester at the end of the second period but five goals without reply in the third – by James Farror (2), Luke Turner (2) and Chris Taylor – ensured a 13-10 win.

Leeds went 7-0 up midway through the second period on the way to beating Cambridge 12-9. Emanuele Bontampi and Scott Modra both notched hat-tricks for the winners.

Rotherham Metro were the only team to complete the first weekend of matches in women's Championship 2 at Walsall with two victories. Emily Crossley's five goals ensured a 13-6 victory over English Roses; then Emma Jackson netted four in a 17-8 defeat of Otter Lutra.

Fifteen-year-old Charlotte Martin, of Cheltenham, found herself very much the centre of attention as Cheltenham came from behind to defeat Otter Lutra 6-5..
Early in the final period, the London side edged into a 5-4 lead thanks to a goal by Lindsey Williams. Almost immediately, Martin equalised, but then conceded a penalty – which Otter missed. The Cheltenham winner came with more than four minutes still to play – thanks, once again, to Martin.
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Cheltenham trailed 6-1 after the first period against English Roses but recovered to draw 11-11. Former GB goalkeeper Jenny Braddock (photo, Trevor Hyde) scored five for Roses.

Newport began the men’s Championship 4 programme at Haberdashers’ Aske’s School today in positive fashion, defeating Coventry 16-9. They relied very much on the goal power of two of their most experienced players – Chris Taylor, who scored six, and James Farror (4).
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Matt Elliott bagged six for Coventry, but Newport were always in charge after building a 7-3 lead in the second period.

Sheffield Dolphins beat Leeds 15-7 in the Yorkshire derby, including goals by Miles Ralston (4), Arshia Keyghobadi (3), Corran Bradley (2), Connor Charles (2) and Ethan Carpenter (2).

Chester scored first against the British Army but ended the second quarter 7-1 in arrears. The Army eventually won 13-9.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Newport goalie Alex James saves a penalty against Coventry today.
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The death has occurred of Brian Campbell (pictured), a major figure in Scottish water polo for many years and the father of three Caledonia players, Alasdair and twins Chris and Darren. Brian’s brother Doug won many honours during his seasons playing for the Lancaster club.
 
The funeral takes place on Thursday, 19 December at the Carnegie Conference Centre, Halbeath Road, Dunfermline, KY118DY, 10.30am for a 10.45am start. The family requests family flowers only but there will be a collection in memory of Brian on the day.

Brian had suffered with cancer for the past couple of years but, as statement on Dunfermline Water Polo Club website (https://www.dunfermline-wpc.co.uk/) says, “he had been trying to live life as normal as possible, continuing to work and maintain his passion for developing and delivering water polo opportunities for junior players.

"As a player, then coach, team manager and administrator, Brian has touched every part of water polo since first taking up the sport as a young swimmer. An enormous number of players will have been influenced by Brian who has been a significant part of Dunfermline WPC, Scotland boys and latterly Caledonia Boys. His drive, passion and commitment will be sorely missed.”
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