Swim England Water Polo Hub
England U17 team named for EU Nations 2018
January 18, 2018The Swim England Water Polo Girls’ U17 team has been named for March’s EU Nations Tournament in Brno, Czech Republic in March.
The entire U17 squad were brought together for the first time on 14 January for a review by head coach Sarah Dunsbee, her coaching team and National Academy Manager Norman Leighton.
From a 25-player squad, 15 players have been selected to travel to Czech Republic, all of whom will be making their international debut.
Swim England Water Polo Girls’ U17 Team
The following players have been selected for the EU Nations 2018 tournament in Brno.
- Poppy Elliman (Exeter) – GK
- Alex Robinson (Rotherham) – GK
- Erin Andrew (Otter)
- Katie Bowater (City of Liverpool)
- Emily Campbell-Lamerton (Otter)
- Anashe Chisadza (Seagulls SC, Otter SC, Southampton WPC)
- Emma Cogni (Otter)
- Eda Colliver (BMS and Coventry)
- Lilymay Girvin (Exeter)
- Lucy Mills (Tyldesley)
- Matilda Neal (Coventry)
- Eve Poole (Ipswich and Otter)
- Imogen Smith (Otter)
- Poppy Stephenson (Sedgefield)
- Aaliyah Lloyd (Boldmere)
Given that the EU Nations event is for 2001s, the England EU Nations team will be competing against players who are older and more experienced.
“The coaches and athletes along with Swim England’s Water Polo Management Group are aware this will be a tough weekend for the girls selected but the experience gained will very much help the development of the programme for this age group,” said Dunsbee.
“Following this event further assessment of potential athletes will be undertaken and successful athletes added to the squad.
“A full training programme is in place as we develop through to next year’s EU Nations and then LEN European Championships.”
The squad have three training slots before the event starts on 30 March 2018.
Dunsbee and her team are building upon the work of the National Academy from which all of the U17 athletes, born 2002 and younger, were drawn and where they were assessed towards the end of 2017.
The team will be working on technique, tactical play and game awareness in the build-up to the EU Nations competition.
Training schedule
A training schedule has been issued to all squad members with the expectation that athletes must meet the following training criteria:
- A minimum total of 12 hours of training (mandatory)
- A minimum of four water polo hours (mandatory)
- A minimum of four land training hours (this can include training within other sports)
- A minimum of four swim hours (this may be replaced by water polo, if quality is good)
Dunsbee welcomes recommendations for additional members of the squad from club coaches, provided the minimum training requirements set out above are met.
All proposals for consideration to become additional members of the squad should be sent to team manager Rachel Boneham ([email protected]) by the end of February 2018.
Consideration will then be given to the assessment of players in squad sessions after the EU Nations event.