The ladies league runs September to March every year. Six all female teams from around the region battle it out to be the league winners. Worcester Crocodiles have finished 2nd in this league for the past two seasons. Faced with strong National League teams from Coventry and Boldmere (City of Birmingham) there has been awesome play from Crocs.
In 2021/2022 the ladies are competing against Coventry, Boldmere, Solihull, South Derbyshire and Northampton. After over 12 months with no training and reduced training time in our home pool this season could be quite a battle for Worcester Crocodiles.🐊
Eight of Worcester Crocodiles Senior Men travelled to Liverpool’s Albert Docks on Saturday 31st July to take part in the first weekend of the MANUP! series of outdoor tournaments. This was the teams first competitive water polo action since lockdown.
The outdoor environment was a novel experience for many of the Crocs contingent, as was playing against a number of teams whom Worcester would never have played before, including a number of established British Water Polo League sides.
The MANUP! tournament runs slightly different rules, mainly to speed the games up. The most significant differences were games comprising of a single period of 8-minutes of running clock, 6 a side teams with 2 subs maximum. Pitches are shorter at 18m and there would be no centres, restarts are from the goalkeeper. Shot clocks are 20 seconds rather than the normal 30 seconds and there would be no corners.
Crocs adapted well to these rules and came out flying in their opening game with a thumping 6-1 win over Blackpool – Morgan Wells opening the scoring with further goals added through Dan Day, Toby Elston and Toby Chilcott.
Next up were Tyldesley, in a very tight game a late goal from captain Dan Mason secured Crocs a 6-5 victory.
Unfortunately Crocs were unable to maintain their winning run and lost out 6-5 to Bridgefield 1st in game 3 of the day.
This narrow defeat ultimately cost Crocs top spot in their group and a place in the day’s final.
However, Crocs didn’t let the disappointment hinder them and after a slow start, eventually ran out comfortable 8-3 winners in the final group game against Liverpool to secure 2nd spot in Group A and a third place play off match against Bridgefield 2nd (runner up of Group B).
A battling performance against Bridgefield 2nd almost saw Crocs claim the 3rd place play off win in normal time, however a late, controversial penalty – which Bridgefield 2nd converted (to the joy of the ‘home’ supporters on the sidelines) – sent the game to a penalty shootout.
George Jones stepped up as the replacement goalkeeper for the shootout in place of the up till then ever present Donald Day, with Morgan Wells, Dan Mason and Ollie Chilcott taking on the responsibility of the penalties. After 3 penalties a piece, the shootout was tied at 3-3. Morgan Wells confidently dispatched his 2nd penalty on the second round (and Crocs’ fourth), leaving Bridgefield needing to score to keep them in the game. Bridgefield’s penalty was ultimately missed – the slimy/salty match ball slipping from the player’s grasp as he shaped to shoot – handing Crocs the 4-3 shootout victory and third place in their debut appearance in the tournament!
To finish 3rd out of 10 teams at an event such as this was a great achievement for the side, but irrespective of placing, the main thing was that a great, enjoyable day of polo was had by all. Hopefully more success will come from the team in the coming months as they get back to playing more competitive polo after the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.
Great achievement, Dan Mason (Captain), Don Day, Dan Day, Toby Elston, Ollie Chilcott, Toby Chilcott, George Jones & Morgan Wells.
Every year the under 16’s in the club take part in the Midlands Water Polo Youth League competition.
This competition has mixed teams, so boys and girls, from various clubs around the Midland region. In 2021 there are enough teams entered to have two leagues, Youth 1 and Youth 2.
Worcester Crocodiles are in Youth 2 with City of Coventry, Boldmere Youth 2, H.G.S.O.B and Wellington Youth. Each team will play at home and away against each other between June and October 2021.
Worcester Crocodiles won the Midland Youth League in 2018 & 2019 but after over twelve months away from our training pool and of course some of the players in those teams now too old to play it will be interesting to see how our team, some who have never played a proper match before, fair. In true Crocs style though we want our players to try their hardest, have fun and enjoy the experience. 🐊
Worcester Crocodiles Results for 2021 are –
Home Fixture – Worcester Crocodiles 11 – 13 Wellington
Worcester Crocodiles player George Glover has been selected and made captain of Great Britain’s under 17’s mens water polo team. The 15 strong team, made up of the finest junior male water polo athletes from England, Scotland & Wales, will head off next week (21/06/21) to Maribor, Slovenia to take part in the Men’s U17 European Water Polo Championship Qualifiers. Drawn in a tough group the youngsters will face Russia, Romania, Slovenia and Austria in a bid to claim a spot at the Men’s European U17 (junior) Water Polo Championships, held in Malta later in 2021.
“Despite the difficult circumstances our squad has had to deal with over the last 18 months, we are all eager to showcase the hard work we have all had to commit to inside and outside the pool.” said George. On his captaincy George said “It is a honour to have been nominated for captain not only by the coaches but my peers. I am very excited to be leading the squad in Slovenia and know that we are all proud to be representing GB.”
Head Coach for Worcester Crocodiles Water Polo Club, David Cash commented “I am really proud of George and his selection. We are very much a grass roots water polo club compared to some of the others around the country, but from little seeds great things can grow! I remember George’s first ever training session like it was yesterday, and we knew then, if he listened, carried on his swimming training and played and watched as many games he could, he would get somewhere.”
On his experience with Worcester Crocodiles George said “It is a fantastic club. I was made to feel welcome from the start and have made friends for life here. I always look forward to Sunday night training sessions.”
Unfortunately due to the current Coronavirus pandemic and social distancing rules, Worcester Crocodiles Waterpolo training is temporarily suspended.
However, if you are still interested in playing Water Polo, want to find out more about Worcester Crocodiles drop us a line via our Contact Us page.
As the government guidance around physical exercise changes and the return of team sports is introduced we hope that we can resume our training sessions as soon as possible.
Worcester Crocodiles Water Polo Club have got a fancy new website.
It’s still very new so there you may not find everything you are looking for. If you think that there is anything we should include on this site that isn’t already here please let us know by contacting us.
