It was a black day for Mid Sussex Marlins water polo players when the senior water polo section of their swimming club was closed for financial reasons.

An abrupt end to Marlins’ BWPL involvement? Not a bit of it!

Up stepped Worthing, who agreed to welcome the girls’ team into its set-up as Worthing Ladies. Worthing immediately applied to take over MSM’s League membership, which the League committee agreed at its recent meeting.

So the Marlins players will still compete in Division 2 in the new season – but under a new name.

Actually, the change is not that dramatic because many of the Marlins girls started their water polo careers in the Worthing junior section. Some began their senior careers with Haywards Heath in the former Women’s National League – until a merger between Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill led to the creation of Mid Sussex Marlins.

Lauren Hand (Photo: Trevor Hyde), a longstanding Marlins player, says: “It’s unfortunate in the past few months that Mid Sussex Marlins decided at relatively short notice to close the senior water polo section due to financial shortcomings – and this despite considerable fundraising carried out by team members and supporters.
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“Some members have been playing in the National League for almost 20 years, so they were hugely disappointed that our team’s future was at risk. The change is a significant undertaking for Worthing, but we very much look forward to seeing our men’s and women’s team in BWPL action this year.”

BWPL have awarded the annual Dave Warriner Memorial Trophy to Nigel Greenwood, best known for his key role as player and coach in the City of Birmingham club, but at one time a top division player with Cheltenham.

The trophy recognises outstanding service to the League and to the sport in general. In Nigel’s case, it also acknowledged his work as a driving force behind the launch of the Conference League. Our photo shows Nigel (left) receiving the trophy from BWPL competition co-ordinator, Mike Hesketh.

The award was announced at BWPL’s annual meeting. The Columbus Direct awards, for outstanding contributions to the League, went to Izzy Howe (City of Manchester) and Dan Laxton (Welsh Wanderers).

Exactly one hundred and fifty years ago, poor old Custer made his last, fatal stand at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.  It was also, just as significantly, the year that Polytechnic came into being – a proud landmark the club will celebrate with a grand dinner in London on 20 September.

Former player Michael McCartney has produced a splendid history, comprehensively documenting Poly’s many successes, including a record 18 men’s National League and BWPL titles.

The club was originally part of the Polytechnic of Central London Institute, which could boast among its achievements the staging of the 1908 Olympics at White City. The Olympic pool, at the City University side, was used by Poly for training until a few years ago – when, unfortunately, the roof fell in.

Poly became famous as a touring club. The World Encyclopaedia of Water Polo records an 1896 game between Poly and Brussels in Vienna, which apparently sparked development of the sport in Hungary.

The ‘modern’ Poly took shape in the 1950s with a team built around the outstanding talents of Peter Pass, who played for GB in the 1956 Olympics along with club mate Bob Knights. Poly’s domination of the UK club water polo was to continue through the 1970s and into the 1990s.

Go to Poly History for lots more information.​​