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Category: Award

Club Trophy Presentations

26 March 202326 March 2023
Award, Penguin members

Last month saw our annual presentation of the Club’s Rob Derbyshire and Ron Turner awards, hosted by Club Chair Rob Kingsmill at Latymer Sports Centre.

There was a great turn out from all the Club, including the Juniors, Senior Men’s and Women’s teams and lots of parents. Thank you to Chrysi who coordinated the evening and to all the parents who helped provide a lovely spread of food for everyone.

The Ron Turner Memorial Trophy
Ron Turner was an inspirational member of Penguin, he was a member of the hugely successful Penguin sides that won the ASA knock-out competition in 1947, 1951 and 1952. Ron was an exceptional forward player with an unerring shot accuracy, known for his fitness and tough approach.

The Ron Turner Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to an under-21 member of the Club who is considered to have best shown the qualities that Ron would have admired: commitment, effort, loyalty and application to the sport of water polo, and to Penguin.

The Club’s Committee decides the recipient based on nominations received from members and coaches. For the 2022 award there were had three strong nominees: Sam Wood, Madeline Roberts and Catie Du Toit.

The Trophy went to Catie Du Toit. It was a very special moment for me as Club President, alongside Rachel Bull our Senior Women’s Team Captain, to make the presentation to Catie. I trained and played with Catie when she arrived at her first sessions at the London Aquatics Centre, and since then alongside her in the British Water Polo League. I have watched Catie grow to be the special player she is. Congratulations Catie.

 

Three women, one holding a trophy
From the left, Fiona Greer (Club President), Catie Du Toit with the Ron Turner Memorial Tropgy and Rachel Bull (Women’s Senior Team Captain).

 

It speaks volumes of our junior programme that we had such impressive nominations…

Sam Wood was nominated for his hard work and strength in supporting his team. In every water polo environment, whether local level or National Academy, he is well respected by peers and coaches alike.

Sam is training with the London 06 National Academy squad. In 2022 he competed in the U16 Middlesex team that won the Intercounty Championships, the the 2007 London team in that came third in the Inter Regional Championships, in the London League U18 and U16 teams for Penguin Hillingdon, and he has played in the senior Men’s London League team.

These achievements are only half of what makes Sam such a quality athlete. He has completed the level one water polo referring course now helps run and referee tournaments for LWPL at Hillingdon, showing a long term dedication to the sport. Sam also helps the younger athletes during the development tournaments. Sam is the embodiment for hard work and dedication and we are proud to have him as part of Penguin.

Madeline Roberts is one of the best representatives Penguin could have to represent the Club’s strong junior performance team. Maddie started at the age of nine at Hillingdon through the Sport England-funded water polo development programme. She had played in all the junior competitions, usually as the only girl in a mixed team.

Now at the age of 17 (18 this December) Maddie is captain of the U19 Penguin team. She is part of the winning Women’s team of ladies in BWPL Division 2, and a key part of the team currently in the play-offs aiming to reach the First Division.

Maddie has also played in the U17 GB and England squad, and has several attendances in the National and Regional Academy.

Maddie also shares her experience through coaching and supporting the young girls and is an inspiring role model for our younger players because of her commitment and perseverance. She never gave up playing and working hard when it would not have been easy to compete with the boys. Now, thanks to her willpower, she is inspiring the new generations.

Catherine du Toit, since arriving in the UK, has established herself in the Penguin Women’s senior team and core to their attacking options.

As quoted by an ex-GB coach, “Having coached over 12 years of GB Junior teams, six separate two year age bands, I can safely say that there was more potential in this young player, more raw talent, a physical presence that top world ranking Senior Teams would love to develop, a swim ability that was close to the best I had ever seen from a Junior player, a coachability that was very exciting. In addition, she is a smart cookie, mature for her years and is juggling her waterpolo with her love of music and also studying for her A levels.”

In the last year she worked hard to get a regional trial, this also led to a GB trial which resulted in selection for the GB U19 squad, she competed in the U19 European Championships in Israel where she led the GB attack. Finally, her performances in the BWPL have provided consistent attacking threat and options with a team that is making waves in this most recent season.

If any young woman is the epitome of Ron’s strong values of commitment, effort, loyalty and application to the sport of water polo and Penguin I would without any hesitation say “THIS GIRL CAN” …

You can read more about Ron Turner and the Trophy here.

The Rob Derbyshire Award
There were two nominations for the Rob Derbyshire award 2022; Rumen Kurtev and Rachel Bull. The winner was Rumen Kurtev and it was my pleasure to see Rob Kingmill present this trophy to someone who has coached me in the past and who has been dedicated to the junior programme and the Women’s team.

Woman present a trophy to a man
From the left: Fiona Greer (Club President) with Rumen Kurtev (Penguin Junior and Senior women’s team coach)

 

Rumen was nominated for his continued commitment, and support of the Club in the junior and senior women’s squads. He has dedicated such energy and passion to the junior development in training and in competition. He also stepped in to coach the Women’s team following the loss of John Lake (Shakey). He has been passionately working with the Women’s team, as a result they have achieved phenomenal success, with promotion from the 3rd Division to the 1st Division in just 2 years. The Committee felt this was an important recognition for the whole Club. Thank you Rumen for your unwavering passion.

Rachel Bull was also nominated for the Rob Derbyshire award. Rachel is the senior women’s team captain. In and out of the water she led the team through the challenging time after the loss of Shakey, remaining positive and navigating the difficult balance of grieving the loss of a great friend and coach to many of us, and yet still looking forward and taking the best bits of him with us. Rachel motivated the team through COVID-19 and supported the new coach Rumen after Shakey had passed.

Rachel was featured in an interview for BWLP in March 2022 bringing great credit to Penguin. Rachel leads by example: frustratingly she missed out on a GB trial due to a broken finger in 2022, but she is a formidable player and never gave up. She works hard and sets high standards of herself and her team, which has underpinned their recent success. Rachel continued to train and even with another two broken fingers in the season, she still led the team to a final weekend showdown on BWPL to gain promotion in Liverpool. With a playing career which is going from strength to strength, Rachel is a worthy nomination for this award.

You can read more about the Rob Derbyshire Trophy here.

Fiona Greer
Penguin Swimming and Waterpolo Club President.    

Jack Petchey Awards at Hillingdon Penguin junior water polo

29 July 2022
Award, Water Polo

We are fortunate to have some amazing children and supportive families in the Hillingdon junior water polo part of  Club. We would like to tell you more about two in particular, who have shone over the past year and gained Jack Petchey Awards.

Riaz Garnie winner of the Jack Petchey Award for March 2022
Riaz is one of our goalkeepers. His coach Shaun Hill says, ‘Riaz’s dedication to training and competition, and passion in games, is extraordinary. I am impressed at all the effort Riaz is putting in at Regional level, in the National Age Groups and at National Academy training.’

‘I feel Riaz always performs and doesn’t always get the accolade that goes with it. Plus who wants to get balls smashed at them?’

 

Water polo player holding a certificatete

 

Riaz won the goalie of the tournament award at the Under 16s Boys’ Inter-Regional Water Polo Championships on 3 July 2022 at Millfield in Somerset. He was playing on the London Sharks Team, with his fellow Hillingdon teammates Sam Wood and Avi Juneja,. The team was coached by Shaun Hill. The London Sharks team came third overall, taking home bronze medals. A great achievement.

 

Water polo player holding a trophy

 

Thalia Ross winner of the Jack Petchey Award for June 2022
In Shaun’s words, ‘Thalia is a great role model. She is always cheerful and enthusiastic, tries her best and is adored by all the girls.’

‘She was the one girl out of the four who went to regional training in Autumn 2021 who did not get selected to play for the London team. Yet she was fine in the face of this disappointment and kept going to regional training.’

‘Thalia helps out with the scoring when Hillingdon host London Water Polo Leagues tournaments, showing great responsibility.’

‘Thalia gives back and should be recognised. She is a fantastic candidate for this award.’

 

Thalia Ross holding a certificate

 

Find out more about playing junior water polo with us.

 

We are grateful to the Jack Petchey Foundation for their continuing support and in allowing us to make these awards which are an excellent way of encouraging the players to progress and improve.

Jack Petchey Foundation logo

Ron Turner Memorial Trophy presentations

5 October 2021
Award, PenguINspiration, Water Polo

It’s been along wait, but now that COVID restrictions have eased, we’ve  been able to make our Ron Turner Memorial Trophy presentations for 2020 winners.

Winner – Elliot McHugh

Here’s the previous winner, Toby Roberts (left), handing the unique Ron Turner Memorial Trophy to the 2020 winner, Elliot McHugh (right), at a Latymer training session.

Elliott with Trophy and Toby Roberts 

Receiving the award Elliot said, ‘It’s an honour to be presented with the Ron Turner Memorial Trophy. Despite a difficult year, I enjoyed supporting the development of Penguin’s younger players. I look forward to seeing the Club succeed in the coming years, particularly with younger juniors coming through and the hard work of our coaches.’

Alongside the main Trophy, Elliot received a glass memento to keep.

Read Elliot’s story about his time with Penguin.

 

Highly Commended – Olly Castell

Olly Castell was awarded Highly Commended for the 2020 award, and received his certificate from coach Shaun Hill at a Hillingdon training session. 

Olly holding his Highly Commended certificate with coach Shaun

 

Read Olly’s story about his time with Penguin. 

 

Ron’s widow, Gill, who was unable to present the awards this year, said, ‘Ron would have been so proud of these young men.’

 

Hillingdon Penguin Jack Petchey Awards and players leaving to go to university

5 October 2021
Award, Water Polo

In the Hillingdon Penguin junior water polo section of the Club we are fortunate to have some amazing children and supportive families.

Here we tell you about three players in particular who have shone over the past year and gained awards. And this is the time of year where we say good bye to a group of older players as they leave to go to university.

 

Bailey Sapsed winner of the Jack Petchey Award for November 2020

Bailey, holding a certificate, with coach Shaun

In the words of coach Shaun Hill, ‘Bailey has been training with Hillingdon Penguins for three years and in this time I have seen him go from a good swimmer and transform into a great player. Bailey plays and trains with pure passion, he has a real love for the sport. I have yet to hear Bailey complain at training in all the years he’s been at the Club. Bailey has amazing attributes which make him a key team member, his determination will ensure he performs to his fullest until the last whistle of a match and while determined, he is humble, always ready to absorb information from coaches and peers. I feel honoured to have a player of Bailey’s character in the Club.’

Dan Usher winner of the Jack Petchey Award for March 2021

Dan Usher hioolding a certificate, with coach Shaun

Dan has been a Penguin for five years. During this time his water polo and overall fitness level has improved hugely. He is a regular and popular participant. During lockdown his fitness regime was impressive, he even persuaded his family to join in the strength and conditioning too over Zoom. Recently he has blossomed as a player. Loyal and charismatic, he’s now a versatile athlete able to play in any position.

Ukendar Vadivel winner of the Jack Petchey Award for June 2021

Ukendar holding a certificate with his water polo coaches

Ukendar loves playing water polo and his favourite position is in goal. He is universally adored. Always friendly and relaxed but puts the max into this sport. When asked after a session, how it was he will reply ‘Excellent!’ with a big grin. Leaving us to go to university he is irreplacable, both in attitude and skill, and he will be missed for all the right reasons. Good luck Ukendar – Imperial College’s gain is our loss. We hope you will continue to play at uni, but you will always be part of the Hillingdon Penguin family.

Moving On
Good luck to all the Hillingdon players leaving us to go to university: Ukendar, Molly, Sarah, Anderson and Leah. We will miss you hugely. You’ve all been a tremendous support and inspiration to the younger players. Have an amazing time, come back and play in our end of term fun tournament and tell us about all your new experiences. We know you will be hoping to join water polo clubs at university and we will be following social media to see how you get on.

We are grateful to the Jack Petchey Foundation for their continuing support and in allowing us to make these awards which are an excellent way of encouraging the players to progress and improve.

Jack Petchey Foundation logo

Lize wins the Jack Petchey Achievement Award for June 2020

15 November 202015 November 2020
Award, Water Polo

While pools were closed due to COVID 19, from May to August the Hillingdon Penguin water polo coaches ran many strength and conditioning sessions over Zoom. So when we came to make the Petchey Achievement Award it seemed only fitting that it should go to our most enthusiastic Zoom participant: Lize.

Lize attended a record number of the training sessions, and always tried her hardest. Ever cheerful and enthusiastic, she was altogether a bright spark on the screen. Thank you Lize, we think you’re amazing.

Lize’s mum was sworn to secrecy so that coach Shaun Hill could make a surprise presentation of the Award during one of the sessions, with her under-15 team-mates watching online.

Lize with her Jack Petchey Award for June 2020
Lize with her Jack Petchey Award for June 2020

 

We are grateful to the Jack Petchey Foundation for their support.

Jack Petchey Foundation logo

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