Looking to keep the water polo program alive and growing in The Bahamas, the Mantas Water Polo Club took an under-12 mixed team to the Northside ISD Swim Center in San Antonio, Texas, competing in the Texas Shootout 2021 water polo competition over the weekend. The team placed seventh overall.
There was a total of eight teams in their division. In total, there were 48 teams that competed in the two-day tournament in six age groups. In addition to the under-12 team, there were two other Bahamian water polo players who were in action – competing in the under-14 and under-16 divisions for other teams.
“I am satisfied with our under-12 team’s performance. Some of our players had some experience but mostly we have beginners. Considering the lack of experience, they adopted quickly to the competitive environment and improved match by match. Defense got better then some players stepped up and started to score goals in big numbers,” Head Coach Laszlo “Coach Lotty” Borbely said.
Making up the Mantas team were Paityn Burrows, Alayna Darling, Angel Curry, Jacob Johnson, Shantero Knowles, Jeremiah McPhee, Knyjha Sylvain, Chelsea Smith and Jayden Smith. Tonny Simon and Aaron Poitier played on the Southside’s under-14 team, and Simon also played for the Storm’s under-16 team.
The Mantas finished with a 2-2 win/loss record in the tournament, coming away with a lopsided 18-6 victory in their final game of the tournament. In that game on Sunday they took down Alamo Arena to end the tournament on a winning note. It was a great bounce back win for the team after dropping a close game 15-14 to Zilla earlier that day.
Borbely said that the teams from Texas are tough and the quality of water polo is high.
“This tournament is very competitive. The quality of water polo is high as many teams having Serb, Croatian and Hungarian coaches. The teams compete against each other in many tournaments,” Borbely said.
The Mantas opened competition with a victory on Saturday. They took down Triumph, 11-6, getting the tournament off on a good note for them. Later that day, they returned to the pool but was unable to pick up a victory as they fell 8-4 to Pegasus.
The team has been training since August 10. According to Coach Borbely, the team was selected from the Mantas Club’s swimming division.
“Our speed and fitness were on the level or even higher than our opponents,” Borbely said. “Everything else in water polo needs to improve. This is quite obvious. This was a baseline to set and from here we will work on ball handling, shooting, game awareness and understanding the rules. Furthermore, we will work on working as a team and developing game tactics.”
Despite the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the passing of Hurricane Dorian in the past two years, water polo is booming in the country, grooming a new crop of players to come on board. Borbely sees a bright future for the sport in The Bahamas. The under-16 world championships is in 2022, and Borbely believes The Bahamas has a realistic shot to qualify.
Over the last two years, the CARIFTA Water Polo Championships have been cancelled, leaving the young players with competition in the United States as their only international exposure. Borbely is hopeful that they could get back in the water and compete at the CARIFTA level in 2022.
As a number of the seasoned water polo players are now in colleges abroad, developing the next generation of players is high on the agenda for Borbely and the Bahamas Aquatics Federation.
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/mantas-finish-seventh-in-texas/
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