Category: London League

It’s been a summer of success for the Hillingdon Penguin  U13s after finishing as runners-up in Division 1 of the LWPL Summer Champs.

Sunday 11 September 2022 saw the final round of fixtures for the squad who travelled to Whitgift School in Croydon in fine form and cheered on by parents, coaches and supporters.

Going into the weekend, the U13s were two points clear of nearest rivals Latymer Penguin – the team from our Club’s other junior water polo section – after a series of strong performances in the previous three rounds of the competition.

Kingston were the first opponents of the day for the Hillingdon Penguins who held a 3-1 lead at half time. But the Surrey side fought back to take a 4-3 lead before Hillingdon Penguin struck once again to level the scores going into the final few minutes of play. In the end it was Kingston who found the winner with only a few seconds left on the clock,  taking the match 5-4.

The second Hillingdon Penguin game of the day saw the U13s face Northampton, and they put in a very strong first half performance to lead 3-0 at the interval. Two further goals after the break saw them win the game 5-0.

Lewisham were the next opponents and a fiercely fought opening half saw the teams head into the break level at 1-1. But Hillingdon Penguin gave a confident second half display that brought three quick goals and a 4-1 win to set up a clash with Latymer Penguin.

Latymer took control of the game as early as the opening minute and just after the break, held a 4-0 lead. However Hillingdon kept fighting and pulled back two quick goals.  Further goals late in the game saw Latymer claim a 6-2 victory and with it the Championship title. Hillingdon made it a Penguin double, finishing as runners up.

With a number of Hillingdon Penguin players now making the step up to U14s this was the last tournament in which many of the team were playing together, but the development of the players over the course of the past year has been clear for all to see. Well done all.

Hillingdon Penguin U13 squad: Aronas Alisauskas, Anaiya Athwal, Tuline Dagher, Zain Garnie, Eira Grant, Charlotte Hartwell, Amira Kabbou, Zayd Khan,  Jacob Lillie, Eleanor McGeady, Ioanna Mouratidi, Dominic O’Neill Cuadros, Charlie Symons.

Report by Mike Hartwell.

Find out more about playing junior water polo with West London Penguin.

Over the past few months we have been assembling an Under 16 team to represent Hillingdon Penguin. Last Sunday, 3rd November, was their first opportunity to compete in the London Water Polo League: a Division 3 tournament in Croydon.

This was the first time Adam Maidment has coached a team in the LWPL:

“The performance from the players was absolutely phenomenal. In all three games, we showed great physical and mental strength to outplay the opposition and we came out on top.”

“This resilience shone through in our second game. At half time we were 5-1 down, so the team needed to rally and bring the game to the opposition. Clinching the draw showed the best of our spirit and togetherness.”

“There’s still much to improve, both for the players and for me as a coach, however it is amazing to see the passion and desire from everyone. We hope to improve on this and come out stronger in our next tournament.”

And here’s what some of our parents said:

Karen Usher: “Congratulations to the whole team. The matches were so exciting to watch. I was particularly impressed with their performance and attitude in the second game. Thank you so much to the coaches. We’re very proud to belong to the Penguins.”

Tim Richardson: “Fabulous to see them competing again. Tight matches and great resilience demonstrated by all.”

Dave Castell: “ Well done Penguins! Three absolute thrillers. Great grit shown by all!”

Final scores
West London Penguin Hillingdon 5 : Beckenham 5
West London Penguin Hillingdon 5 : Kingston/Sutton & Cheam 5
Haringey Aquatics 7 : West London Penguin Hillingdon 5

Well done to Adam, Shaun and all the players, and a big thank you to all our parents for your commitment and support.

It was a great first season for Penguin Latymer water polo teams.

In the London League Summer Championships, Latymer Emperors took the title in the U15s Division 2. They were unbeaten thanks to their extraordinary defense, conceding just one goal in all seven matches.

In the U15s Division 3, Latymer Kings were victorious. They lost only one of their 12 matches, by one goal!

Latymer Blue Penguins won the U12 Division 2. They were unbeaten and had the best defense of the tournament across their 15 matches.

Aside from London League, our developing U16 teams took gold and silver at the London Swimming Development Tournament and our U14 team took gold in their category.

On the national stage, Latymer Penguin player Toby Roberts played in the England team at the U17 EU League.

At regional level, Penguin Audrey Tala played in the South East Team which won the Interegional U16s Championships.

All in all, it’s been a hugely successful summer. Well done to all of our young players and thank you to Ian Grimwood (Team Manager), Claudio Palumbo (Head Coach) and Krisz Serfozo (Assistant Coach) for their hard work.

Now we’re ready for the London League Winter Championships!

We have three Under 15 teams playing in the London League Summer Championships this year:

• Penguin Laytmer U15B (The Royals) in Division 3
• Penguin Hillingdon in Division 2
• Penguin Laytmer U15A (The Emperors) also in Division 2.

Last weekend, Penguin Latymer Royals started their Division 3 campaign.

It was the first ever tournament for a relatively new team established in September last year, and they finished unbeaten in all four matches.

A great result with some skillful play.

The team plays next at Latymer Sport Centre on 17 June.

Results

Penguin Latymer Royals vs Barnet 8-0
Penguin Latymer Royals vs Bexley 5-1
Penguin Latymer Royals vs Otter 3-1
Penguin Latymer Royals vs Kingston 3-1

League table

Penguin Latymer Royals 12 pts
Otter 9 pts
Kingston 4 pts
Bexley 3 pts
Barnet 1 pt

Both of our U13 teams played in the first round of London League Division 2 on 22 April.

Hillingdon Penguin coach, Shaun Hill, is very proud of how the nine players in the side performed.

“They all worked extremely hard, and we were unlucky to lose our last game against Haringey. Our teamwork was incredible and I believe the players will learn a lot from the tournament.”

Coach Claudio Palumbo was equally proud of the Latymer Penguin squad.

“Many of the team played for the first time, and they showed great technique and passion in our sport.”

Claudio also recognised the two referees, Ian ‘Grimbo’ Grimwood and John ‘Shakey’ Lake for the perfect organisation, Simone Bardella for helping at the table with Audrey and Antonio, assistant coach Krisz Serfozo, and coach Andrea Cardia for the time he has spent training the Latymer players in recent months.

Tournament results

Current standings in the league table

Next round

We play next on Sunday 3 June. Find the match schedule and follow the results on FixturesLive.