News archive
Olympic Ref | Greg's Debut | Euro Plan | Welcome Ken! | GB 13th in Europe | Four Head For Europe | Exeter Tour | Tiny Spires Obituary | Olympics TV |
BEIJING REFLECTIONS (SEPTEMBER 2008)
Brian Littlejohn is back on National League duty after his stint as one of the 24 FINA-appointed referees at the Beijing Olympics. It was, he says, a challenging and exciting experience, as well as being a busy one – he was required as a referee, timekeeper or goal judge for at least one match every day.
The three matches he refereed were all in the men’s competition and featured the three eventual medallists - Serbia’s 11-7 defeat of Germany, a 4-2 Serbian victory over the USA and Hungary’s 12-3 win against Canada.
Says Brian: “The first two games had the pundits ripping up their form papers at the end of the first periods - the Germans went 3-1 up against Serbia while Serbia were goalless against the Americans.
“As for me, once the line-up presentations had been made, the nerves were back to normal form (yes, even referees get nervous before matches) and I managed to concentrate on the game in hand.
“I think it can be said that matches at this level are easier in the sense that teams are more knowledgeable about the rules and are more likely to play 'real polo' (not with one player hanging up in attack for the whole game or a couple of tired players just making it to half way!).
“This, coupled with the speed of the game, increases the pressure to make the right decisions at the right time. Add in the spectators, who invariably are more knowledgeable and present in larger numbers than your usual British crowd – as well as other knowledgeable spectators, referees, delegates etc – then the atmosphere is tremendous and really helps focus the attention.”
Brian was appointed to the FINA list after qualifying as a LEN referee in 1997. His lasting memory of Beijing 2008? “The feeling as I walked out on to poolside prior to my first match. Although I've played in goal for the Scottish and British water polo teams at many competitions, this was my first Olympic Games and obviously the highest level competition.
“It's fair to say you get just as nervous, if not more so as a referee than as a player in a team. At least in a team you have your mates around you and someone usually to cover for you but the referee’s only friend is his colleague on the other side of the pool.”
To ensure impartiality, Beijing officials stayed away from the athletes’ village in the Grand Skylight Catic Hotel, just 400 metres from the Birds Nest Stadium. “We were so well looked after that it is still difficult to return to normality even after this time," Brian continues.
“The Chinese people we met were really happy about the games being in Beijing and could not do enough to help you have a good time and enjoy their country. They were very proud and knowledgeable about the history of China and, although we did not get out of Beijing very far – only to visit and walk on the Great Wall, which according to Chinese culture means that I can now consider myself a man! – we were still able to appreciate a lot of the history, the focal points and the vastness of this great city.”
Brian’s next international appointment is the LEN Trophy group competition in Montenegro in October.
Congratulations Brian on your Olympic success!‘
GREG’S BIRTHDAY DEBUT (October 2008)
Australian goalkeeper Greg Bray may well have created a Division One record when he made his first NWPL appearance for Polytechnic in the match against champions Bristol Central at Ponds Forge, Sheffield.
Three days earlier, Greg celebrated his 52nd birthday! Does that make him the oldest player to make his debut in the top flight? Probably so. Not that it is unusual for some very well known veterans to make occasional emergency appearances for their clubs.
Norman Leighton, a National League debutant for County of York all of 30 years ago, played full games in goal for Rotherham Metro last season. Even Cheltenham coach Martyn Thomas (star GB goalie in his heyday) and Lancaster-based ref Ken Potts have seen brief action in the past couple of years.
Not that anyone can quite match the achievements of Dave Edwards, who began his extraordinary National League career with Leamington in the mid-1970s and today is still a key member of the Cheltenham first team squad.
Greg is an architect who has been transferred to the UK by his company to work on one of the Olympic development site projects. His home team is Richmond Tigers, one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Melbourne. He has played for more than 30 years, mostly in Victorian State League 1 – his last appearance was a week before he left for the UK.
Greg was manager of Richmond Tigers for five years as well as joint manager prior to his arrival in London of the Victoria Tigers, the Victorian team in the Australian NWPL. His one appearance for the Victoria Tigers happened three years ago – against Sydney team Cronulla Sharks, making him the oldest debut player in the Aus NWPL.
Playing at Ponds Forge, he says, was an enjoyable experience. “I have noticed a difference in the quality of pools between Melbourne and London – Melbourne has more which can be used for water polo. However, pool time for training in a city like London is just as difficult to arrange as in Melbourne.”
He adds: “Training in the outdoor pool at Hampstead Heath lido, even in summer, is definitely an experience to remember!”
EURO CHAMPIONSHIPS PLAN (SEPTEMBER 2008)
LEN Technical Water Polo Committee is to consider major changes in the structure of the European Championships after the 2010 competition in Zagreb, Croatia. It could mean GB playing more competitive matches in the UK.
The current B Championships would be abandoned and replaced with a qualification system more akin to European soccer. All but the automatically-qualified top six in Zagreb would take part in preliminary rounds, with teams divided into groups and playing round-robin games on a home and away basis. For more details, read Wolfgang Philipps on www.waterpoloworld-com.
The proposals will be debated at the LEN Congress in Zurich, Switzerland, on 27 September.
KEN'S DEBUT (SEPTEMBER 2008)
A prominent water polo administrator from Japan enjoyed his first taste of National League action when, at the age of 52, he made his debut for Otter 1869 during the Division Three weekend at Walsall.
Katsumi Kuroda, known as Ken, arrived in London last June in his professional role as a Senior Vice President of the Mitsubishi Corporation.
He has played water polo for 38 years and is a member of the Japan Swimming Federation water polo committee as well as serving on the Asian Swimming
Federation technical water polo committee.
His work includes the responsibility of hiring a foreign coach for Japan's national team, managing national team activities, interpretation of FINA rules and evaluation of referees - all of which he continues while travelling from his new London base.
Finally, Ken is also a member of the committee looking at the potential for Tokyo to host water polo at the 2016 Olympic Games.
GB OUT OF LUCK (SEPTEMBER 2008)
There was disappointment for Great Britain at the European Junior Men's Championship in Istanbul. The team lost all three group matches - Italy 7-13, Germany 9-12 and Croatia 2-17.
Group winners were Serbia, Greece, Croatia and Hungary.
GB then lost to France in one of the matches for positions 9-16. The game was tied at 8-8 at full time. France then won a penalty shoot-out 5-4.
In the 13/16 positional game, GB defeated Slovenia 8-5. GB then beat Israel after extra time in a penalty shoot-out to finish 13th. Montenegro defeated Spain 9-7 in the final.
FOUR HEAD FOR EUROPE (septEmber 2008)
Four National League clubs will be competing in European club competitions this year - possibly the largest-ever UK entry.
In the Euro League qualification round (3-5 October), West London Penguin travel to Porto, Portugal, where they are grouped with GSS Panionios (Athens), Olympic (Nice), CSM Leonardo Oradea (Romania), BMK Kharkov (Ukraine), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) and host club SC Slagueiros.
Rotherham Metro are in the Slovenian coastal town of Koper, grouped with T-Mobile Honved (Budapest), Budvanska Rivijera (Montenegro), Spandau 04 (Berlin), hosts Rokava and Widex Donk, of Gouda (Netherlands).
LEN Trophy (16/18 October):
In Prancj, Montenegro: Bristol Central, SS Nervi (Italy), WPC Beograd (Serbia), PVK Val Prancj.
In Chios, Greece: Cheltenham, VSPU Volgograd (Russia), NC Chios.
HUNGARIAN SUCCESS (SEPTEMBER 2008)
Exeter's Hungarian tour - which featured a strong contingent who play for Weymouth & Portland in the National League - proved a great success. A highlight occurred on day one when the party received an official lunch reception at the British Embassy.
The programme included a Budapest training camp involving local Club BVSC as well as members of the Canadian national team, plus coaching by Balas Vincze (358 Caps for Hungary).
The Exeter party comprised 31 players and five coaches. The programme included a tournament in Szentes, where Exeter's three teams faced tough opposition from clubs representing some 15 countries. In one match, Exeter celebrated a rare British achievement - victory over a Hungarian club, Monor.
The tour was made possible thanks to a five-figure sponsorship package obtained from Devon County Council and Michelmores LLP by Exeter chairman and head coach James ("Jaggers") Baker. Next up for Exeter? A repeat Hungarian tour next year, plus ambitions to visit Croatia and Mongenegro. For more information, contact James at jaggers@exeterwaterpolo.co.uk.
DEATH OF TINY SPIRES (September 2008)
The sudden death has occurred of Barry (Tiny) Spires, a stalwart of RAF water polo for many years. He had only recently celebrated his 60th birthday.
Tiny will be remembered as an extremely popular member and formidable pit forward of RAF teams over many years. After finishing playing, he coached the side to numerous Inter-Services titles in the 1980s and 1990s.
In all, he served for 38 years in the RAF. He was instrumental in forming the RAF Lyneham team that competed in the Wiltshire and Bristol & West Leagues for many seasons. Later, he coached the former Chippenham club and then the Wroughton team in Swindon. Wroughton enjoyed their most successful period at this time, progressing to Division One of the Bristol & West League and entering the National League in 1998, winning the Division Three title in 2000.
Golf had been Tiny's great passion since retiring from water polo in 2001. He collapsed and died after completing a round at his local club. The funeral is at Semington Crematorium, near Melksham, on Firiday, 5 September, 3.15pm, followed by a gathering at the Officers' Mess, RAF Lyneham.
OLYMPICS TV COVERAGE (august 2008)
Did you catch the BBC "red button" screening of the Olympic men's water polo bronze medal match and final?
OK, the commentary was dire - for example, you won't discover a new offside rule in the NWPL this season; neither will our table officials re-set the possession clock after every minor foul!
But at least the broadcast acknowledged the great efforts being made in GB to prepare a team for 2012. And the matches WERE shown, albeit without achieving the main channel coverage of other (less exciting?) sports, such as handball and beach volleyball.
Hopefully, it was a sign of better things to come. But please don't sit back and grumble about the paucity of coverage for our sport on TV in the UK, however justified this may be. Write to the sports departments at the BBC, Sky and Eurosport and tell them you want to see more of this brilliant action! Then they may sit up and listen. Who knows, we might even see the cameras at a National League fixture before very long.
