Former British League referee Frank Ohme has been making his mark at the very pinnacle of the sport - as one of the busiest officials at the recent FINA World Championships in Budapest.

​Frank, a loyal supporter of BWPL during his time in Wales as a lecturer in astro-physics at Cardiff University, is now back in his native Germany and living near Hannover. He is based at Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, where he leads his own independent research group.

​Success has followed success for Frank as a referee in the past year, during which he was appointed to the German Cup Final in Dusseldorf, the German Bundesliga playoff final in Berlin as well as the British Championships final in Cheltenham. Other major honours included the men's World League - Netherlands v France in Gouda, Holland - and the meeting of Partizan Belgrade and ZF Eger in the Champions League.

​None of that could quite equal Frank's experiences in Budapest where he refereed several of the top men's games, including Russia v Croatia, the eventual champions; Serbia v Greece; Serbia v Australia in the quarter-final; and Russia v Australia for seventh place.

Congratulations Frank! We hope that one day soon we will be able to welcome you back to one of our BWPL Super 5s weekends. 

​Also figuring prominently in Budapest was Dutch referee Diana Dutilh-Dumas, who officiated at the BWPL Super 5s finale last season. She refereed the women's final in which the USA defeated Spain.

The British League's seventh season is only weeks away! So here's a reminder that the deadline for entering player and coach registrations on the data system is midnight on Sunday, 20 August. 

​Any new registrations added after that will be subject to a £5 late registration fee (BWPL Rule 103.6).

​If you have a new player or coach who is not yet ASA/Swim England-registered, please enter their details before the 20 August deadline. There's then still a month in which to complete an ASA/Swim England registration, update the BWPL system and obtain validation to take part.

​Any questions about the registration process? Please contact either James Reddick, [email protected], or Chris Stephens, [email protected]. 

The death was announced earlier today of Leo Beatty, a former national standard referee who gave many years of outstanding service to the sport, especially in the north of England.

​Between 1984 and 1990, Leo was Referees' Co-ordinator for the former men's National League.

​The funeral takes place at Lawnswood Cemetery, Leeds, LS16 6AH, on Monday, 31 July, 15.40; afterwards at Grove Masonic Hall, 17.00.

Forget the introduction of new water polo rules in the BWPL during the coming season!

​The proposals, as outlined in the story below ('Crunch Time For New Rules') have not been shelved altogether by FINA - far from it.

​But apparently the planned debate and vote at this week's FINA technical congress - when there was every chance the reforms would be rejected due to major opposition in Europe - has been deferred by FINA until after the election of a new president on 22 July. The likelihood is that a new congress will be arranged to thrash out the whole issue - potentially in October.

​From a BWPL point of view, therefore, it's 'as you were' during the 2017/18 season. We will operate in exactly the same way as in the 2016/17 campaign. 

Are the rules of water polo about to undergo radical amendment? Not if the influential European nations have their way!

​The proposed changes put forward by FINA, the sport's world body (including 11 players per team, six instead of seven players in the water, 25 seconds duration of attack, 15-second exclusions, 25m pitches for all matches) were described as the "ruination" of water polo at a recent LEN-sponsored consultation.

​All nations present unanimously agreed to voice their opposition when the issue is decided on Wednesday, 13 July, at a FINA technical congress during the World Championships in Budapest.
​
​Critics argue the proposed changes do not in any way improve the quality of the sport and could negatively affect the spirit of the game from both technical and promotional aspects - thus limiting development from a worldwide perspective.
​
​Watch this space for further information as it affects BWPL clubs.