Our polo team was back in action on Sat 2 Dec for the first time since March, with our first tournament of the year. Something of a baptism of fire – especially for new players Huw, Jack and Mel, joining ‘old hands’ Chris, Sam H & Steve – we’d entered in Division 4 of the UK Southwest Regional League (we’d have preferred Division 5, but there wasn’t space!), played in Cheltenham’s 33m pool (much bigger than we’re used to in Brecon!). Our first game against Poole should really have gone our way, but we were still finding our feet and gave away 4 goals in return for scoring one. We suffered a similar defeat against Cheltenham Cheetahs but were beginning to get our act together, so by the time we played the stronger Bude Smugglers we were able to put up a spirited performance while still achieving a similar end-result (!). However, we (and the other teams!) were totally outclassed by a Bridgend team which included several Welsh Development Squad players – so won’t even mention the score for that one!
Despite the results, we all enjoyed the experience and were undoubtedly a much better team by the end of the event than we had been at the start – well done all! Now looking forward to our next tournament in Rhondda on 28 January…
Event information & 2023 statistics to date:
- 2 Dec 2023, SW Region Division 4 Canoe Polo Tournament, Cheltenham
- 6 players: Chris, Huw, Jack, Mel, Sam H, Steve R
- A few swims (but forgot to count the rolls!)
| Paddler | No of trips / days | No of swims | No of rolls |
| Andy | 5 | 0 | Lots! |
| Anne | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Asher | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris | 11 | 4 | 0 |
| Dave J | 10 | 2 | 8 |
| Dave M | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ellie | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Huw | 4 | 1 (polo) | 0 |
| Ian | 1 | 2.5 | 0 |
| Jack | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Jess | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Lee | 2 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Lily | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Mel | 3 | 2 (polo) | 0 |
| Mike S | – | 1 (polo) | – |
| Nairi | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Pete M | 16 | 0.5 | 6 |
| Phil H | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Rhiannon | 5 | 1 | 4 |
| Sam C | 8 | 6.5 | 1 (hand) |
| Sam H | 9 | 2 | 3 |
| Sarah | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Simon | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve H | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Steve R | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| Stuart | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Tanya | 2 | 1 | 1 |