Grantham Water Polo Club in the prizes at Swim England Regional Awards for the East Midlands

Grantham Water Polo Club was in the prizes at the 2023 Swim England Regional Awards for the East Midlands which took place at Burleigh Court in Loughborough.

The club was nominated for the East Midlands ‘Club of the Year’ and triumphed, beating competitors Nottingham Leander and Hucknall to top spot.

With more than 50 members born in 2009 or before, Grantham Water Polo Club was recognised for its dedicated junior programme that recruits 15-20 new players into the sport each year.

The club was also recognised for its ongoing support with English School and BWPL leagues, and success at player development.

Coach Gareth Chen-rees said: “We are proud of the dedication shown by all our players, coaches, officials and parents, who all play a vital role in ensuring the smooth running of our competitive club.”

And the awards did not stop there. Sally Dunlop, the club’s welfare officer picked up a runners-up award for ‘Technical Official of the Year’.

The award was for her unabated commitment to running tables in every possible league that Grantham plays in or hosts, in addition to being the backbone of Grantham’s table officials at registered events, and also organising and training the next generation of table officials.

Dave Lord, after spending close to 50 years in the sport, was recognised as ‘Coach of the Year’ for his commitment to not only GWPC, but Spalding Polo Club and Sedgfield BWPL.

Gareth said: “Dave instils a loyal and competitive culture within our club. He’s designed and delivered many years’ worth of training and can be credited with producing many regional and national level players over the years.”

Special mention also goes to Millie Stewart for receiving runner-up ‘Coach of the Year’. Millie has been involved with Grantham since being a player and now coaches at Stamford and Hucknall’s talent centre. Millie was also head coach for this year’s U16 Boys’ East Midlands team.