First up were the women’s and men’s Columbus Direct Trophies, donated by one of our most valued sponsors – travel insurance specialists, Columbus Direct – and recognising outstanding achievements among the League’s 2,000 players.
The women’s accolade went to Gael Drummond (Photo, Trevor Hyde), who over the years has been a driving force in the progress of her club, Caledonia, to the top of the women’s game. She’s a Scottish international and member of the Scottish water polo committee.
Winner of the men’s award was Solihull’s Nick Beard, who, remarkably, is still playing Division 1 polo some 30 years after making his debut in the former men’s National League for City of Birmingham. He went on to represent Nova Centurion and Penguin before finally returning to his home club, Solihull, and proudly winning a League champions medal in 2017.
The Dave Warriner Memorial trophy, for outstanding service to the League and the sport in general, went to James Reddick who, quite apart from his duties as Polytechnic’s secretary, has made such a phenomenal contribution as the BWPL technical guru and creator of both the website and the data system, which underpins every aspect of the League operations – from registration of players and coaches to publishing fixtures, results and instantly-updated tables.
A reminder that Columbus Direct offer a 12% discount on their products to all BWPL members. See advertisement.