Leeds Sharks women’s team have withdrawn from the British League, leading to significant changes in the divisional set-up next season.

The Sharks were due to move up to Division 1 after finishing third in Championship 1 behind champions Hucknall and Sheffield Sharks. Their departure means unexpected promotion for the fourth-placed Championship 1 team, City of Birmingham, who will earn their first experience of top level competition. Other changes:
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Sheffield Stingrays, fourth in Championship 2, move up to Division 2. And Cheltenham, fourth in the end-of-season qualifying tournament, will now be invited to fill the vacancy in Division 3.

Where will your team be playing when the new BWPL season gets under way in September?

Venues for the first phase are now confirmed and available for clubs to view on the info page. Also detailed are the allocation of teams where matches in a division are split between north and south venues.

Four new teams will take part in BWPL at the start of next season after battling through closely contested qualifying tournaments.

In the women's competition at Northampton, Exeter and Watford both went through. The men's newcomers after success at Walsall are City of Chester and City of Newport.

There were mixed fortunes for teams required to re-qualify after finishing in the bottom places in women's Division 3 and men's Division 5 in the first half of the 2018/19 season. Manchester Comets girls made sure of staying in, completing their five matches at Northampton undefeated, but both Cheltenham and Sunderland missed out along with new applicants, Nova Centurion. Chelmsford safely negotiated the men's qualifiers, but Bedford drop out. Northampton's young team also missed qualification.

Both tournaments produced exciting finales, Exeter and Cheltenham clashed at Northampton in a match to decide which team would go through. Victory went to Exeter by 6-2, including a hat-trick from Jennifer Herring. It was a similar story at Walsall where Northampton would have qualified with victory over Chester in their final game - but they went down 11-5.

Best match of the weekend was possibly Chester's meeting with Newport. The Welsh side took a 5-4 lead at the start of the final period only to be beaten 6-5 when Dan Johnson levelled with little over a minute remaining - and Callum Gray claimed a winner 22 seconds from the end.

After the drama of the Super 5s finale at Lancaster, it was back today for some teams to the pressurised business of qualifying for playing membership of the British League at the start of next season.

Six women’s teams lined up at Northampton, where three places were up for grabs in Division 3 at the beginning of the new campaign. Of those obliged to go through the qualification process after finishing in the bottom three earlier in the 2018/19 competition, Manchester Comets made the most emphatic impact, winning all their three matches.

In the men’s competition at Walsall (five teams battling for three places), Bedford’s long playing membership of the British League – and, before that, in the former men’s National League – is in danger of ending after losing on day one to new applicants Chester, 9-5, and City of Newport, 10-4.
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Newport, whose line-up includes such accomplished players as Chris Taylor, Carl Wyatt (Photo: Trevor Hyde) and James Farror – all with BWPL experience in top divisions – also defeated Northampton 15-9. Chelmsford were the other team to win twice – 6-3 against Chester and 9-6 against Northampton.
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Teaching the finer points of water polo to a newcomer to the sport can be quite challenging. Which is why Andy Stein, of the Warwick club, himself very much a late beginner (he’s now 56) has published a book – Water Polo Explained.

“I wrote it initially,” he says, “so I could understand the many rules – and later to help me pass a referee’s examination. It's for new players (and their families), new referees and anyone else who takes an interest in this great sport."

It has all be done in experienced company – Andy's collaborator was Gary Tonks (pictured), the ex-GB international who these days coaches the City of Birmingham girls’ team in the BWPL, including his 18-year-old twin daughters, Pia and Sancha.
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The book features a detailed history of water polo as well as every aspect of the game itself, from playing to refereeing. It’s available from Amazon – paper version £6.99, ebook £3.99.
 

No prizes for guessing the identity of this season's top marksmen in the men's Super 5s. Tom Curwen (Photo: Trevor Hyde) takes the award - for the FIFTH time in the eight years of the competition!

Actually, it was a close run thing. The Lancaster player finished just one goal ahead of Invicta's Callum Bailey and 18-year-old Tom Hunt, of Cheltenham.

The women's award went to Coventry's Kimberly Watson, with Lily Turner, of Otter, finishing runner-up for a second year. Other divisional hot-shots:

Women's Championship 1, Charlotte Hopwood, Liverpool Liver Birds
Women's Championship 2, Nia Sanders, Welsh Wanderers
Men's Championship 1, Zach White, Durham Palatinates
Men's Championship 2, Nick Corjon, Otter
Men's Championship 3, Addison Brown, Tyldesley
​Men's Championship 4, Nick Covington, British Army

Thousands of water polo fans around the world tuned in watch the drama unfold at the British League finals in Lancaster live on television, via the BBC IPlayer and online – and we’re thrilled that so many have contacted since then to say how great it was to see our sport given such a high profile.

Thanks to all! And, of course, a very special thanks to those who made it possible.

Putting BWPL water polo live on British terrestrial television for the first time required an incredible amount of work behind the scenes by so many people, not just the League’s administrators. In particular, we must mention:

The numerous sponsors and water polo friends who provided essential financial backing for the venture.

Paul Nicholson (at one time an officer of the former men’s National League) and his fabulous production team, with their cameras – including one high in the roof – in operation for many hours covering a total of nine matches.

Chief commentator Alan Anderson and his numerous volunteer assistants.
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The wonderfully supportive staff at the Salt Ayre Leisure Centre, Lancaster.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Alan Anderson in action, with co-commentator Claire Walmsley.

City of Manchester men concluded their title-winning season by defeating last year's champions Solihull 17-10 at Lancaster.

This was a closely contested game until the final period when Manchester broke loose to score seven times. Their leading scorers were  Dan Paddon (4), Eleftherios Chelioudalis (3) and John Patterson (3). 

Photo (Trevor Hyde): L-R, back row Dan Paddon, Michael Patterson, Lewis Daly, James Warman, Guive Shafie, Barry James, Isaac Wass, Joel O'Regan, Joel Leighton, James Moffat, Eleftherios Chelioudalis, Cameron Richards, coach Theo Nousios. Front: Martin Howe, Spilios Kaloudis, Dylan Green, Aaron Winstanley, Andrea di Caro.

City of Manchester completed a British League Super 5s double at Lancaster as their girls easily defeated City of Coventry 6-1 in the match to decide the women's title.

With the men's trophy already secured by Manchester, the women went into their final game knowing that a draw or win would guarantee them top spot.

It all proved fairly straightforward. Coventry had their chances early on, shooting against the goal posts and drawing strong saves from Manchester goalkeeper Jade Smith. But from 2-1 up at the end of the first period, Manchester scored three times without reply in the second - all from Annie Clapperton - to build a lead they never looked likely to lose.

​The trophy and medals were presented afterwards by BWPL President Pippa Jones. L-R: Joan Howe (team manager), Emma Bartlett, Annie Clapperton, Izzy Howe, Steph Whittaker, Emmie-Rose Eastwood, Ella Chadderton, Jade Smith (captain), Rosie Egan, Niamh Campbell-O'Donnell, Honor Grimes, Martha Warrilow, Thea Simpson, Theo Nousios. Photo (Trevor Hyde)