Water Polo on Sky TV
The highlights of the Women’s Senior European Water Polo Trophy Cup (Euro B’s) are on Sky Sports 3 this Wednesday 22nd July at 7pm. This is the tournament won in Manchester recently by GB Women.

Minor Rule Changes Approved

George has pointed out this article in Waterpolo World which shows the minor rule changes that have recently been approved.

The Campbell's Adventures

Darren and Christopher have arrived back from Romania and Slovakia which, despite the travel to and from Slovakia , was a very good and enjoyable trip.  They played for Clujes-Napoca and came in second in the tournament which was held in Slovakia .  They narrowly lost the first match 9-8 to Slovakian side Zilina losing the final period 5-1 after Christopher had been fouled out - missed chances cost them in a game they should have won.  The key match was then against Czech team Opavia which the team won 9-8 coming back from behind to win the fourth period 4-2.
Other results were a 20-5 win over home team Vrutky and 17-4 win over Presov. Outwith the official competition they also lost 16-9 against Vrutky's 1991+ team although Darren missed that game with a sore shoulder.  The twins played well but also made mistakes which hopefully they will learn from, they scored 37 goals between them (out of 62) and enjoyed playing in an outdoor pool for the first time and with a wonderful view .  Photos

Photographs of LEN European Championship

Photographs of last weeks championships are available on the GB Swim Stars website.  Thanks to Brian Littlejohn for the link.

GB Ladies Take Gold Medal

GB Ladies have beaten the Czech Republic 9 - 7 to take the gold medal in the Women's European B Championships in Manchester today.  BBC Sport have once again featured the match on their website. See also Manchester 2007 website.  Well Done to all involved!

Semi Final Success

GB Ladies have won their semi final at the Women's European B Championships in Manchester.  They beat Slovakia 19 -7 to book a place in the final against the Czech Republic, who beat Ukraine 14 - 8 to secure their place.  BBC Sport have featured the match on their website.

The bronze medal will be contested by Ukraine and Slovakia at 12.00pm on Sunday 12th July with the final due to take place at 1.30pm.  We wish GB every success!

GB Ladies Success Continues

GB Ladies success continues at the European Championships in Manchester.  They have beaten Portugal 8 - 3 and Slovakia 17 - 6.  They top their group.

Note From Ken Fussell (sent 9th July)

Member Consultation on Membership Management: Categories and Fees

The following has been received from Scottish Swimming:

The membership project group has now met and debated a number of issues.  We have created a paper and a survey that capture a range of options for member feedback.  We would value your views on this paper – please call or email Elaine Mackenzie on e.mackenzie@scottishswimming.com 01786 466 522 in order to provide your views.  Please see below for your info and comment.

Member Consultation on Membership Management: Categories and Fees

All members of Swimming Clubs affiliated to Scottish Swimming pay a membership fee.  We have over 17,500 registered members of affiliated Clubs.  The revenue generated from membership fees is an important source of income for Scottish Swimming amounting to c£350k per annum (target next year of £365K).  The income allows us to leverage funds from other partners, including sportscotland.  Our annual budget, including membership income, is spent on support for swimmers at every stage of the swimmer pathway, including a swimming development tool box, swiMark (a club development resource), teacher and coach education, and performance programmes.

It is important that the governing body remain customer focused in the management of its members and the collection of the fees.  A membership project group has been formed to determine whether we should retain the status quo or try a new approach to the management of our members (categories and fees).

To facilitate the review process, we have created a very brief online survey to gather your views.  This survey has been prepared to find out how members think that membership categories should be managed and how the burden of membership fees should be distributed.

The survey can be found at the following link and should take no more than 10 minutes to complete.

Link:      http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/survey-intro.zgi?p=WEB229E3HQURGA

We would be grateful for feedback on the survey and/or the paper by the 15^th of August after which the paper will be amended based on comments and survey results and sent to the Membership Project Group and Board for consideration in early September.

With thanks,

The team at Scottish Swimming

European Women's Water Polo Championships

GB Women have won their opening game in the Women's B European Championship.  They beat Belarus 20 - 4.  For full results, click here.

Minutes of Open Meeting

If you have received a copy of the minutes from the open meeting held on 23rd June please discard them.  They are only the draft minutes and should not have been sent out.

Message From Scottish Waterpolo Development Officer

Ladies (& Coaches),
In the spirit of enjoying water polo with ladies your own age and developing future stars I am looking at forming a Junior Scottish Women's squad.   
I would appreciate knowing if this is something that appeals to you or any of the ladies in your clubs.   We'd probably train a few times a year and find one or two competitions annually (probably an U 19 and a U16, though U21 and U15 U14 competitions could come up as well) and have a few specific trainings before each to prepare.    However, as a few of you would likely be the core of that group, I'd love to have any input you have as what sort of training and competitions would appeal to you.   
I'm not sure of the age ranges but I can say we just turned down a ladies spot to play as Scotland in an under 19 competition (born 1991 and later) simply because we don't have a team set up.     I'd like to make sure we don't pass this up again especially as we have a lot of younger girls coming up through mini-polo right now who have expressed interest in playing more.    I'm hoping we'll soon be targeting promising young ladies from around Scotland to join such a squad, but we can't do that until such a squad is formed.    This would also hopefully complement our Regional Training Center.  
Also, if you have suggestions who you would like to coach this group, I'd love to hear them.    Obviously, for any "Scottish" team we have to have proper coach selection procedures followed but your suggestions will be taken seriously as it would be your team.    Nonetheless, we'd make sure you had a high level coach that you'd enjoy being coached by.  
Best,
Neal Rayner
Water Polo Development Officer

FINA Referees Clinic

Congratulations to Paul Metcalfe who has been invited by British Swimming to take part in the FINA Referees Clinic being held this weekend in Manchester.  Paul will also be acting as a table official at the Women,s European Waterpolo Championships.

Bowling Night

A big thank you to Paul and Ali for organising a successful trip to Bowlplex tonight.  A mixture of 31 players and parents enjoyed two games of bowling.  Well done to Nicola Tate who was "Top Bowler" with a score of 293!

The above championships will take place on 7 – 12 July 2009 in the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

For tickets call the ticket hotline: 0800 220 292

Why not go along and support the Great Britain Team

www.manchester2009.com

Waterpolo Club Social Night

Hi everyone,
Paul Metcalfe and Ali Campbell are planning a waterpolo club social evening this Thursday (2nd of July) at the bowlplex, Dunfermline.
The bowling will start at 7pm and should finish around 9pm. If possible, could everyone be there for 6.50pm to allow time for shoe changing etc. 
Each person will get 2 games of bowling and the prices are as follows:
Adults - £10
Juniors (includes students with valid card) - £8
Afterwards, anyone who is up for it (and old enough) will head out for a few drinks up the town.
As a result, there will be NO TRAINING at Cowdenbeath on Thursday the 2nd of July.
 There are limited spaces available, so anyone who is interested in coming along should contact either:
 - Paul Metcalfe on: 07713 623 996 or paulmetcalfe7@hotmail.com
 - Ali Campbell on: 07815 439 028 or Alasdairacampbell@hotmail.com
If those interested in coming along could let us know by Monday night at the latest that would be a big help!
Cheers,
Paul and Ali

Sunday Night Session

As tomorrow is the last Sunday session at Cowdenbeath before the closedown, the inflatable will be in the pool from 7.00 - 7.30pm.  Games will be played for the remainder of the time.  Don't be late!!!

Summer Closedown Dates Confirmed

The last session before the closedown will be Thursday 2nd July.  We will re-start on Sunday 16th August.  Have a good summer!

Scottish Waterpolo Calendar

Ken Fussell has put together a Scottish Waterpolo Calendar which will be updated regularly with games and other events that involve Scottish waterpolo players.

Contractors Appointed

'Barr Construction' have been appointed to carry-out the refurbishment works at the Carnegie Centre following the completion of the enabling works.

Ladies Scottish Cup Match Cancelled

Menzieshill Whitehall are unable to raise a team, therefore they have forfeited the match and DWPC declared the winners.

Defeat in Scottish Cup Final

DWPC were beaten 10-15 by a physical and more experienced Portobello team in tonight's 2008 Scottish Cup final.  Once again DWPC fielded a young team, with only four of their players aged over 20!  Goal scorers: D Campbell 1, A Campbell 4, C Campbell 2, A Woodall 2, C Fraser 1

Open Meeting

Due to work commitments, David Baxter will not be able to attend the Open Meeting tomorrow night.  He has however put his views and thoughts on paper.  Please have a read.

Rescheduled Open Meeting

The Club's Open Meeting will now be held on Tuesday 23rd June 2009 at 7.30pm in the Del Farquarson Centre.  All senior players, members and parents of junior members are urged to attend the meeting to discuss the future of the club. There are a few important issues to try and resolve.  Despite the club having two of its most successful years , particularly at junior level, we have just recently seen the resignation of our Head Coach and temporary secretary. Compounded by falling membership and
revenue, probably due to our shift from Carnegie Centre and a total of four committee members trying to run the club, it has become apparent that this situation is not sustainable. We need the support of everyone involved in this club to ensure it has a future. A future that will take us back to a fantastic new facility at Carnegie Centre where we can hopefully build on the foundations that have been laid over the past few years.

The items for discussion are:
1 Fundamental direction of club
2 Increase in Committee support ( many hands make light work )
3 Coaching Strategy
4 Financial issues ( Can the club remain solvent? )
5 If we can resolve the first four, lets start building a social, fun
side to the club
6 AOB

LEN Women's European Nations Trophy

The above tournament will be held in Manchester Aquatic Centre from 7th - 12th July.  Click here for schedule of matches.

Once again, Paul Metcalfe has been invited to be one of the Table Officials for this tournament.

GB Funding

See article pointed out by Brian Littlejohn.

Reminder

The Men's 2008 Scottish Cup final will be played at HMS Caledonia on Monday 22nd June 2009.  There will be no training that night.  If anyone does not have a pass to get into HMS Caledonia please contact the webmaster as soon as possible.

Seniors Scottish National League 2009

The draw has been made for the Seniors Scottish National League.  Dunfermline WPC will play the following matches:

16 August     - Portobello  (12.45)
30 August     - Menzieshill (12.45)
6 September - Warrender  (11.40)

All matches will be played at Stirling.  If you need any other information, please contact Stewart Carlile.

Note from Stewart:  There is time available on 23rd as well. I propose that we use this for a Caley session. This will give us a nice run into the NLs which start the next weekend.

Summer Closedown

The proposed summer closedown dates are as follows:

Last Session - Thursday 2nd July 2009.  First session back - Sunday 16th August 2009.  We will let you know when this has been confirmed.

Training Cancelled

There will be no training on Saturday 20th June.  I believe this is due to a swimming gala taking place at Kirkcaldy, but I have only heard that on the grapevine! 

E.G.M Cancelled

Due to work commitments of several of the older players, and in order to maximise attendance, the E.G.M due to be held on Tuesday 9th June has been cancelled.  This will be replaced by an Open Meeting on a date yet to be decided.  We will let you know once the date has been set.  

Website move
Because of the sudden death of our web host we will have to relocate the website in the near future. We are carrying on with the current host for the moment but the service could shut down at anytime. Hopefully we will have transferred to a new host before there is a problem and the website will be "off air" only for a very short period if at all. It is expected that we will retain the same domain name. G.S.

Training on Saturday 30th May

As the Scottish Cup final was due to be played on 30th May, the pool at Kirkcaldy was not booked for the evening training session.  A Caledonia training session will take place at Stirling starting at 10.00am until 12.00pm.  Please arrive by 9.45am.  All seniors and older juniors should make every effort to attend this session.  If you are unable to attend, please contact Stewart Carlile.

Men's Scottish Cup Final

The re-arranged men's 2008 Scottish Cup final will take place on Monday 22nd June 2009 at 7.30pm in HMS Caledonia.  There will be no training that night.

EGM Confirmed

The date of the EGM has been confirmed as 7.30pm on Tuesday 9 June 2009 at Cowdenbeath.

The AGM has been arranged for Tuesday 3 November 2009  at Cowdenbeath starting at 7.30pm.

Club Coach Resigns

By now, most members will have heard that Brian Campbell has resigned as Club Coach.  An E.G.M will be held on Tuesday 9th June 2009 at 7.30pm in Cowdenbeath Leisure Centre (room confirmation awaited).  It is vitally important that all members, parents and interested parties attend this meeting to determine the way ahead and agree upon the future Management of the Club both in and out of the water.
Volunteers are needed to Chair and take minutes at the meeting.

Training Cancelled

The session at HMS Caledonia on Monday 25 May 2009 has been cancelled due to the Bank Holiday.

Cup Finals Cancelled

Due to neither of the oppositions being able to raise a team, the 2008 Scottish Cup Finals due to be played on Saturday 30th May at Stirling have been cancelled.

LEN Magazine
A new edition of the LEN Magazine has been issued. It concentrates on the FINA World Championships seen through European eyes. Water polo pp.50-54. It is quite a large PDF (14Mb)

GB Funding Crisis - continued

A reply has been received from Scottish Swimming regarding the letter sent by Brian Campbell.  A further letter has been sent in response.

Visit of Waterpolo Development Officer

Neil Raynor the new Scottish Water Polo Development Officer will visit the Club on Sunday 17 May 2009 at 7pm.

2008 Scottish Cup Finals

The 2008 Scottish Cup finals will be held at Stirling on Saturday 30th May 2009.
The order of play is :-
10am : Ladies - DWPC vs Menzieshill (25m pitch)
11am : Men - DWPC vs Portobello (30m pitch)
All teams to arrive early to allow a prompt start as there is limited time to play the matches.

Semi Final Success

Dunfermline have won their Mens Scottish Cup 2008 Semi Final.  They beat Menzieshill Whitehall last night 13-6.  They will now play the winners of the second semi final, either Portobello or Edinburgh University, in the final.  Team and goals scored in brackets:  S Metcalfe, R Tate (1), D Campbell (1), D Stewart (2), Z Thomson, P Metcalfe (1), C Campbell (4), S Carlile (1), A Woodall (3)

DWPC Seniors Win Warrender 5s

Dunfermline Seniors have won the clubs first silverware of the 2009 season.  They beat Leeds 8-3 in the final of the Warrender 5s tournament to-day.  Hopefully more details to follow.

Team:  S Metcalfe, S Carlile, C Fraser, R Tate, A Woodall, J Wood, C Campbell, D Campbell

From Club Coach
HMS CALEDONIA
=============
Unfortunately due to the lack of a Coach the session at HMS Caledonia on Monday 11 May 2009 has been cancelled.
DOMESTIC CONVENER
=================
Jonny Hepburn has resigned so we need a new Domestic Coordinator to organise games in Scotland.
I have attached the Role Descriptor. If you are interested or know anyone who maybe then let me know, if you require further information then get in touch with Ken Fussell

ASA Cup Photographs 

Further GB Update

GB played in the final today but were beaten 11-10 by Portugal.

GB Update

GB 91s have won their third game 19-4.  Andrew was one of the goal scorers.  The final is tomorrow at 9.30am.

GB Juniors

Andrew Woodall is away in Portugal with the GB 1991 squad.  They will be playing three matches.  According to Andrew's Bebo page I quote "Two out of two for GB 1991's ... Beat Denmark 16-11 and beat Portugal 14-11".  Good luck to the team in their remaining match.

Session Changes

Training on Saturday, 2nd May at Kirkcaldy is ON.   In the absence of Brian Campbell, Richie Metcalfe will be taking the session.

Due to the bank holiday, there will be no training at HMS Caledonia on Monday, 4th May.

Win for DWPC 94's

DWPC have won their 2008 1994+ joint League and Cup match played on tuesday night.  They beat  Warrender/Portobello 17-7 (4-2, 4-1, 6-1 & 3-4).  We were always in control of this match with the main players left on the bench at the start and introduced late on in the game.
Scorers : Nicola Tate & Calum Ironside (5); Darren Campbell (3); Alexander Johnstone & Christopher Campbell (2); Joe Thomson; Liam Rodger & James Pulham.

From the Waterpolo Development Officer

Hello Water Polo Enthusiasts,

  Many of you have asked during the water polo committee meetings to see the Scottish Swimming Facilities Plan 2009-2014 I'm happy to say the draft of this is now available for everyone to see online and it welcomes you to provide feedback by May 15th.  From a water polo standpoint I recommend you do; nicely and concisely please as Scottish Swimming is strongly supporting creating facilities that serve the swimming and water polo community.    Please forward this information to people in your clubs that are interested as I know not everyone reads the Scottish Swimming website.   http://www.scottishswimming.com/index.php?id=794 .  While I recommend reading the entire document I will point out the following is said about water polo:

Water Polo – Recreational club level water polo is serviced effectively by local and regional swimming pools.  However, there is a requirement for pools hosting international events to have the following dimensions:

·                        Men:  length 20.6 - 30.6m, width 10 - 20m

·                        Women:  length 20.6 - 25.6m, width 10 - 20m

These pool dimensions can normally be accommodated within existing pools, but the larger field of play only if there is an 8 lane (2.5m width/lane) x 50m pool.  For national and international competition there is a requirement for a 2m constant depth.

Win for DWPC Seniors

DWPC successfully held their first match at HMS Caledonia tonight.  They beat Warrender 13-7 (2-2, 4-2, 4-1, 3-2) in a first round match of the belated 2008 Scottish Cup.   They now face Menzieshill Whitehall in the semi-final.

Team Members (Goals scored in brackets):  S Metcalfe, R Tate (1), D Campbell (4), D Stewart (3), 

Z Thomson (1), C Campbell, J Wood, S Carlile, R Metcalfe, A Woodall (4), J Hinley

LEN European Nations Trophy

Tickets are now on sale for the upcoming LEN European Nations Trophy which takes place  in Manchester from 7^th – 12^th July. If you would like to purchase your tickets now please use this link http://www.awards.sportcentric.com/vsite/vproduct/page/productlist/0,7631,5061-196090-213313-46790-product-list,00.html

There will be eight countries competing at the prestigious event and they are Belarus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Portugal, Slovakia, Switzerland, Ukraine and Great Britain. The draw for the competition is set to take place in Lugano on the 30^th May in conjunction with the men’s B event.

For more information on the event please visit www.manchester2009.com

Floating Goals for Kirkcaldy
The 'Fife Leisure Trust' have agreed to provide a set of Senior floating goals for the Kirkcaldy
pool, they will be relocated to The Carnegie Centre when it re-opens along with the Junior goals we
have already procured. We would hope to receive them during May 2009.

Our thanks go to 'The Fife Leisure Trust' for their continued support of the Club.

ASA JUNIOR (under 19) CUP FINAL
===============================

Dunfermline 9 Invicta 10 (2-2, 2-2, 3-4 & 2-2)

This proved to be a very exciting and closely fought match with Invicta ahead for all but a short time. Our team, which had only four over 15 players, performed well against an older and bigger Invicta team and, had we taken our chances in the final period could have won the match.

The teams traded goals in the first quarter after Invicta opened the scoring to leave them tied at 2-2 after the first quarter. The second quarter followed exactly the same pattern with teams ending the first half of the match tied at 4-4.  The third quarter was the decisive one. Following a bad man-up from Dunfermline two goals were lost in quick succession without reply before goals were scored by each side. With Invicta winning the quarter 4-3 they had edged ahead 8-7 going into the final quarter.
Dunfermline started the period strongly and with 5 minutes to play had tied the match at 9-9. Chances were missed by both sides before Invicta scored the decisive goal with just over 1 minute to play, despite pushing forward Dunfermline were unable to find the goal which would have taken the match into extra time.

Throughout the match Jake Hinley continued the form which took us into the final with many excellent saves to keep us in the match. We were indeed 2 goals behind four times during the match and kept on coming back.
Invicta were a good team and we pushed them to the wire unfortunately we did not take our chances and Invicta did.

Scorers : Lewis Dawson 3, Lewis Don, Darren Campbell & Andrew Woodall 2 each
Man-up : 2 from 5 (+ 1 penalty) scored Man down : 2 from 3 saved.

Team : Jake Hinley, Robert Tate, Andrew Melville, Lewis Don, Zach Thomson,
Darren Campbell, Christopher Campbell, Jordan Wood, Andrew Woodall, Craig
Wilkinson, Lewis Dawson, Logan Shepherd & Joe Thomson.

Dunfermline also had an official present.  Paul Metcalfe was invited to be one of the referees and presided over two of the four finals.   

Seniors Match

DWPC Seniors will play Warrender on Monday 27th April at HMS Caledonia.  The team should aim to be there for 7.15pm at latest.  If anyone has any queries about entry into HMS Caledonia, please contact the Webmaster ASAP.  There will be no training for the younger players.

GB Funding Crisis

Brian Campbell has written a letter to Scottish Swimming regarding the GB funding crisis.  Any comments, please email Brian.

Hungarian Coach seeks job

Brian Littlejohn asked if we could "advertise" that a Hungarian coach, at present working in Japan, is looking to work in Britain. He has supplied letter and C.V.

Success at ASA Cup

Dunfermline 91s have won their three games today in Liverpool. 

In their first game they beat Exeter 12-9.  

Goal scorers:  Robert Tate 1, Darren Campbell 1, Christopher Campbell 4, Andrew Woodall 4, Lewis Dawson 2.

They then beat Manchester B 8-2, with the three 91 players starting the match on the bench.  They rounded off the day with a close victory over Carlisle 4-3.  Goal scorers:  Darren Campbell 2, Christopher Campbell 1, Andrew Woodall 1.  Birmingham pulled out of the competition.

Dunfermline face Invicta in the final on 25th April.

Training Tonight Cancelled

We have been informed that the pool at HMS Caledonia is closed, therefore there will be no training tonight.

News From Club Coach

Training has been cancelled on Saturday, 4 April 2009.

The Club has learned that GB High Performance Director, Nick Hume, has resigned from his position as the dismantling of the GB Water polo high performance infrastructure continues in the wake of the withdrawal of funding by UK Sport and British Swimming.   Nick has been instrumental in driving through various initiatives which have moved GB Water polo forward over the past few years and which many of our younger members have benefitted from. The Club thanks him for his considerable efforts and wish him and his family well for the future.

Nick Hume Resigns

Nick Hume, British Swimming's National Director of Waterpolo has resigned citing the shortfall in funding through to 2012.  For full story, see BBC Website.

SCOTTISH SWIMMING REGISTRATION
I will be at the sessions on Thursday and Sunday night and Brian Campbell will be at the session next Monday to collect your outstanding fees.
We will submit our return on 25 March 2009 and anyone who hasn't paid will no longer be able to train, compete or take part in any Scottish Swimming activity - this is a Scottish rule and our Insurance is null & void if we do not follow the rule.

Roddy Mackay

Club Treasurer

From Club Coach

Both games against Romanians were won 11-8
ASA Cup - team played well but lost many chances to win against both Sheffield and Invicta. The Birmingham game didn't matter and I treated it as a training game.
We eventually received the Shield we won last year ( Lancaster were hiding it!) and a new team photo was taken.
Better report to follow during the week.

Scottish Willie Mellors Team

The Scottish Willie Mellors team get a mention on the In The Winning Zone Website.

Cup Defence Over for 93s

DWPC 93s team have failed to qualify for the finals of the ASA Cup.  They got off to a good start beating Exeter 8-2.  They then drew with Sheffield 5-5.  They were beaten 6-7 by Invicta and lost their final game 3-10 to Birmingham.  I believe that as they could not qualify going into the last match the younger players got some time in the water.  Team Captain, Zach Thomson says "thanks to everyone for their effort. We now need to get back to training and get fit ready for next year".

Wins for GB Academy Team

The GB Academy boys team have been in action this weekend in Lancaster, taking part in a training camp and matches against a Romanian club team.  They won their first match 11-8.  Darren Campbell scored one and Christopher Campbell scored two.  I have not been given the score of the second game but Darren scored three and Christopher one.

Senior ASA Competitions

The SWPC has expressed an interest in sending both senior men and women's national teams to an ASA competition in Cardiff. Details have still to be provided but the event will most likely take place on 23/24 May. Travel and accommodation for this event will need to be self funded. More information will be sent out when a final decision on attendance and the selection process is agreed.

Grantham College Open Day

Grantham College Waterpolo Academy Open Day will be held on Tuesday 31st March 2009.  See flyer for more details. 

ASA Cup Preparation

Our 1993+ team are travelling to Menzieshill this evening for a training match in preparation for the ASA Cup this weekend. On Tuesday 17th March Portobello are the hosts for our 1991+ team as  they prepare for their ASA Cup matches later this month.

The Club wish to thank both Menzieshill and Portobello for their co-operation and assistance in the preparation of our teams for their difficult challenges ahead.

Scotland Win the Willie Mellors Tournament

In their final match of the weekend, Scotland beat British Police 8-6 to take the Willie Mellors Trophy.  Congratulations to all of the team and a thank you to Iain McCallum and Richie Metcalfe for helping make this happen.  Team Managers Report and Photographs

Wins for Scotland at Willie Mellors

Scotland have won their first two matches at the Willie Mellors Tournament.  They have beaten South Derbyshire 13-5 and Combined Services 10-5.  They are due to play their last match of the day against British Police at 4pm.

News From Club Coach

SCOTTISH FEES
=============
The mandatory Scottish fees from March 2009-2010 are -

> Aquatic 1 (under 8 at 1/3/2009) = £7.20
> Aquatic 2 (over 8 and under 11 at 1/3/2009) = £16.00
> Aquatic 3 (over 11 at 1/3/2009) = £ 29.60
> Aquatic 4 Club Volunteer = £7.20
> Aquatic 5 Technical Official = £7.20
> Aquatic 6 Teacher & Coach = £11.85
> Aquatic 9 Tutor = £30.90
> Aquatic 10 Disability = £7.20

First claim members should pay the required amount to the Treasurer immediately either by cash / cheque at a training session or post a cheque
to - Roddy MacKay, 4 Laxford Crescent, Dalgety-Bay KY11 9TX.
Please contact either myself or Roddy Mackay if you are unsure of your category or your status as a first or second claim member.
Payments are required by 25 March 2009 to retain both Club Membership and Scottish registration. A Scottish registration is required before you can participate in any competition and / or train with the Club (and also
Caledonia).
Should you fail to re-register your Club membership will lapse.

MEDICAL DECLARATION
===================
Members competing at Scottish or UK level should complete and return the
attached Medical form to Scottish Swimming should you be regularly taking
medication (for Asthma for example). This form should be returned on an
annual basis.

Kirkcaldy Cancellations
The Club Coach has notified members that the following Saturday evening sessions at Kirkcaldy have been cancelled :-
7 March 2009; 14 March 2009 & 28 March 2009.
Our next session at Kirkcaldy will therefore be on Saturday 21 March 2009.

Willie Mellors Tournament

Dunfermline players David Baxter, Stewart Carlile, Simon Metcalfe, Robert Tate and Andrew Woodall are in action for Scotland this weekend at the Willie Mellors Tournament in Aldershot.  They will play British Police, Combined Services and South Derbyshire.  Good luck to all of the players.

Warrender 5's Tournament

The draw has been made for the Warrender 5's tournament which will be held at Portobello on 9th May 2009.  

Draw as follows:

Group A                    Group B

Warrender                 Warrender B

Clontarf                     Leeds

Edinburgh Uni            Dunfermline

Burnley                      Fleetwood

Appointment of Waterpolo Development Officer

It has been announced that Neal Reyner has been appointed as Waterpolo Development Officer.  He takes up this role on 9th March 2009.  For more information, see Scottish Swimming website

British Championship News

Lancaster have been crowned British Champions after beating Rotherham 8-7 in a closely fought final.

In the women's competition, Manchester beat Liverpool in another closely fought final on penalties. Match Reports

British Championship News

In today's matches, Lancaster beat Manchester and Rotherham beat West London Penguin to set up a Lancaster v Rotherham final tomorrow.

ASA Cup Draws

The draw for the ASA Cup this year has our teams facing a very difficult task to reach the respective finals. With no semi-finals only the winners of each group will progress.

Youth Cup (1993+):-
=================
Sunday 15 March 2009, Coventry Sports Centre, Fairfax Street, Coventry CV1 5RY

Draw -
2pm DWPC vs Exeter
3pm DWPC vs Sheffield
4pm DWPC vs Invicta
5pm DWPC vs Birmingham

Junior Cup (1991+) :-
==================
Saturday 28 March 2009, Liverpool Aquatics Centre, Wellington Road, Liverpool L15 4LE

Draw -
2pm DWPC vs Exeter
3pm DWPC vs Carlisle
4pm DWPC vs Manchester B
5pm DWPC vs Birmingham

British Championships

The finals of the British Championship are being held this weekend in Manchester.  The four teams that qualified are Manchester, Lancaster, Rotherham and West London Penguin.  Paul Metcalfe will be one of the Table Officials. 

DWPC Win Awards

Congratulations to DWPC 1993 British Cup Winning Team.  They have been awarded the Rotary Club of Dunfermline Junior Team of the Year Award at tonight's DWFSC Sports Awards.  Photo

Congratulations also go to Brian Campbell who won the Sport Tayside and Fife Sports Coach of the Year Award.  Photo

A great start to what we hope will be a successful year for the club and members!

Campbell Twins Selected

Darren and Christopher Campbell have been selected to take part in a GB National Academy training camp and matches against a Romanian team.  This will be held in Lancaster on 13th and 14th March.  For full team details see Lancaster website.

Caledonia Ladies

Caledonia have finished 4th in NWWPL Division 3.  Click here for final league tables.

Player of the Year Awards

Congratulations go to Andrew Woodall on the award of Scottish Junior Player of the Year. Neilson Rutherford (Portobello) was awarded the Senior award.

ASA Cup Competitions

The Club have entered the ASA Youth (1993+) & Junior (1991+) boys competitions.

The dates advised to us are -

Youth Boys (1993+), Sun 15 March 2009 at Walsall
Junior Boys (1991+), Sat 28 March 2009 at Liverpool  
Finals on Sat 25 April 2009 at Manchester

The draw for these competitions is due to be issued around 20 February 2009.

Dunfermline Players Selected For Scotland

Congratulations to Simon Metcalfe, Robert Tate, Stewart Carlile, Andrew Woodall and David Baxter on their selection for the Scotland team who will travel to Aldershot for the 2009 "Willie Mellors Invitational Tournament". The full team is as follows - 

Simon Metcalfe

Robert Tate

Andrew Woodall

Stewart Carlile

David Baxter 

Elliot Robertson

Stevie Adams

Lewis Don

Steven Cuthbert 

James Scobie

Tom Crammond 

David Armstrong

Callum MacGregor

Win For DWPC Under 18s

DWPC beat Menzieshill Whitehall 17 - 10 yesterday at Stirling in the 2008 U18s Scottish League. This was the first match for some months and the players were a little rusty. Despite that the whole team were rotated and the effort was good from all the team. We await the date of the next match against Warrender which we anticipate being a difficult match. 

Scorers were: Z Thomson 1, D Campbell 4, C Campbell 6, J Wood 1, T Bonnar 2, N Tate 2, A Melville 1

Selection for DWPC Member 

Congratulations to Paul Metcalfe who has been selected to be a table official at the forthcoming British Championships in Manchester.

Olympic Funding Decision

The final funding decisions were made by UK Sport on Thursday. Waterpolo has been allocated £1.45 million representing a 50% cut.  See reactions to this news on BBC and Friends of Waterpolo websites.

Warrender 5s Tournament

The Club have accepted an invitation to compete in the Warrender fives which  will be held at Portobello on Saturday 9th May 2009.  More details when available.

Decision Day!

UK Sport meet today to decide how the remaining £12 million funding will be allocated.  

See article about waterpolo on BBC Website

Junior Scottish National League Matches

Due to Scottish Schools Swimming taking place on Saturday, DWPC's match against Warrender will be re-scheduled.  DWPC will now play Menzieshill Whitehall at 3.30pm.

2008 Scottish Cup Matches

Following discussion it has been decided that this competition will take place.  Further details will follow.

News From Club Coach

To : Members

SUNDAY SESSION
==============
Unfortunately our change of time request was lost during a Fife Region systems failure hence the problems over the past two weeks on a Sunday evening.

From Sunday 1 February 2009 our training time on a Sunday evening will be
from 7pm - 8.30pm for both the Development and Academy squads, an updated
squad list is attached.

ASA CUP - 2009
==============
We have entered the 1991+ & 1993+ boys competitions again this year which we expect will be played during March / April 2009. Senior players should note that Senior/Junior sessions will be geared towards this squad as they prepare for these competitions. Attendance by Senior players will be appreciated to provide opposition for the team and it is hoped that you will attend whenever possible. Maximum attendance by those involved in the squads is required as we have to raise our standard again from last year.

Membership Fees
===============
These are due now either in cash or via your standing order at an additional £2 per month.

SASA Registration Fees
=============
These will be due in March 2009. We will be advised of the fee and first claim members should make payment as soon as possible. We require to make a return by 31 March 2009, those who have not paid their fees will not be re-registered and therefore will be unable to attend training or represent the Club in matches.

Level One Team Managers Course

Team Manager Level 1: Local Competitions is being delivered at the Royal Commonwealth Pool, Edinburgh on the 17 February 2009 from 6.30pm – 9.30pm.

This workshop will look in depth at the role of the Team Manager, but more specifically to:

• provide a basic understanding of the role of a Team Manager
• provide a simple guidelines for good team management
• provide “Top Tips” to assist Club Team Managers and DRP Team Managers dealing with young swimmers

  Please find attached a workshop application form.  If you are interested in attending please return this to me with the appropriate fee or request for invoice.

CPD points are available for this workshop.

If you have any questions please get in touch.

Thanks

Eilidh McCall-Lawrie  
Volunteer Development Manager
Scottish Swimming

National Academy Summer Training Camp

This will be held at Millfield School in Somerset from 2nd - 7th August 2009.  The age group this year is 95/96.  As there is no Scottish RTC at present, anyone wishing to attend should contact Brian Campbell.  

Training Cancelled

Due to the Junior League matches being played on Saturday 31st January at Stirling, training at Kirkcaldy has been cancelled.

Caledonia Ladies News

Caledonia Ladies were in action this weekend in Manchester for the final weekend of NWWPL Division 3.  They played two matches. They beat Bristol 7-5 on Saturday and drew 6-6 against Liverpool B on Sunday.  Sunday's scorers:  C Connor 2, S Johnstone 3, L Burrel 1.  Unfortunately I do not have Saturdays scorers.  As yet the updated league is not available on the NWWPL website, so I cannot tell you where the team finished in the league.

Award for Ladies Goalie

This weekend in Manchester at the last weekend of the NWWPL Division 3, Chantal Guillot won the "Best Goalie Award" for Division 3.  Congratulations from everyone at DWPC.

Fixtures News
Details for the remaining 2008 League competitions follow have been received from Jonathan Hepburn today.

Willie Mellors U16 - Boys 92+ & Girls 90+

Sat 31st Jan 3:30pm : Dunfermline vs Portobello/Warrender
National Academy U14 - Players born 1994+
Sat 31st Jan 5:30pm - 94+ : Menzieshill Whitehall vs Dunfermline
Sat 31st Jan 6:30pm - 94+ - Dunfermline vs Portobello/Warrender
2008 Scottish Cups
Due to a number of reasons the 2007 cup competitions were not played until May / June 2008.  To avoid a repeat of this and to try to put some structure back into the Water Polo calendar I am proposing that the 2008 Scottish Cup competitions be cancelled.  

The 2009 cup competition will be played in Autumn / Winter of this year following the completion of the league competitions which will hopefully finish around the end of spring / beginning of the summer.
An email will be issued shortly regarding the 2009 competitions. The League format will consist of a home match, an away match and a Central venue deep water match i.e. each team will play each other 3 times.
Please can you speak to your clubs and let me know your thoughts on the cancelling of the 2008 cup competition and if there are any strong objections.  Members with any views on the above proposed cancellation should e-mail
Jonathan at : Jonathan.Hepburn@rbs.co.uk

From Brian:  My own view is that an attempt should be made to play as many of the 2008 Cup competitions as possible in a central venue as soon as possible, certainly for the junior competitions only a few games are required.

Training Cancelled

Due to maintenance work taking longer than planned there will be no training at HMS Caledonia on Monday 19th January 2009.

From the Secretary

SPORTS AWARDS
=============
The Club will be represented at the Sports Awards in two categories -
The Rotary Club of Dunfermline Junior team award & Sport Tayside & Fife Coach of the year - Brian Campbell
The award Ceremony takes place at the Glen Pavilion, Dunfermline from 7pm on Wednesday 18 February 2009.
Tickets for the event cost £5, please advise if you wish to attend, monies should be paid direct to the Club and tickets will be ordered for you.

Sunday Session
==============
After a successful session last Sunday it has been decided to have both squads using the pool at the same time from 6.30pm - 8pm giving all players a 1.5hr session.
Our younger players may find the extra 30 minutes difficult, the coaching team will watch these players, if they are tired they can stop early or take a rest, please let them know. Whilst we appreciate the earlier start time does not help those who have to travel some distance it does mean an earlier finish for all especially the youngest players.
This will be effective immediately.

Water Polo Balls
================
The Club were made aware by Fife Council of excess funds which were being made available to purchase equipment. We have been successful in our request for eight new men's Mikasa water polo balls at a value of £200. They will be left at Cowdenbeath.

Sportsmatch Application
=======================
The Club has submitted an application for a Sportsmatch matching grant to assist with the costs of our Junior teams competing in the ASA Cup competitions this season.  A decision on our application is expected late February at which time further information can be provided.

Secretary
=========
Members are reminded that the position of Secretary remains vacant although I have retained the official position until such time as a replacement can be found as the Club must operate with a named Secretary.  A volunteer to share the load is therefore sought. In itself the position need not be an onerous one - it becomes more difficult when combined with other responsibilities (i.e. coaching). Support is available from ex secretaries.
If interested please discuss with me.

From Club Coach

To: Club Members,

First session at Kirkcaldy is this evening (Sat 10th) 5.30pm - 7pm and the first session at Cowdenbeath is tomorrow evening (11 Jan) from 7pm.

Following the change of time at Rosyth the revised session times and squad lists are attached.

Please note the following:

1)  The additional 30 minutes at Rosyth is open to all members attending.
2)  Junior squad members are not expected to attend on a Sunday evening although they may do so to assist with  the development of the younger players and practice basic skills.
3)  The Development squad attends the first hour on a Sunday evening and the Academy squad attends the second hour.

A rota for the Coaches has also been issued to ensure that poolside coaches are available, the use of current players has been minimised to ensure that their fitness does not suffer.

No further UKCC Level 1 course is planned this year as a minimum of eight members is required, should eight members / parents wish to sit the course this could be reconsidered, anyone interested in helping on the poolside should contact me (minimum age is 16).

Valuing Your Volunteers Workshops

Dates have been issued for several Team Manager courses this year.  A "Valuing Your Sports Volunteers" workshop is being held for Water Polo on Saturday January 24^th from 10:00 am till 1:00 pm at Stirling . This workshop is aimed at Committee Members, Volunteer Coordinators and those who assist in recruitment of volunteers. It will help clubs to recruit more volunteers, motivate, retain, reward and manage them even more effectively.   This should be a very valuable workshop for all committee members of clubs and others. It should provide clubs with ideas on how to increase the number of volunteers involved in Water Polo. More people are badly needed to help share the load.   See flyer for course dates.  Click here for Volunteer Workshop application form. 

Friends of Waterpolo

A website has now been launched and can be accessed at www.friendsofwaterpolo.co.uk

To: Club Members

GRANT APPLICATION
=================
The Club has submitted an application to 'Awards for all' to provide floating goals and other equipment to be used initially at Kirkcaldy then relocated to Carnegie Centre when it re-opens.
The result of our application is expected within the next two months.

CALEDONIA SESSION
=================
Our request for an additional 30 minutes on a Monday evening has been successful, the session will therefore commence at 7.30pm finishing at 8.50pm. This will allow for both a more meaningful session (open to all members) and allow matches to be played at this time. This is expected to commence from Monday 12 January 2009.

GB Funding

The NWPL website carries an article on the current funding crisis.  A copy of the response by David Sparkes of British Swimming has been received by email.

A petition regarding the funding has been set up on the Downing Street website if you would like to add your name to it.

To: Club Members

First session at HMS Caledonia is on Monday 5 January 2009 from 8pm.

First session at Kirkcaldy is from 5pm on Saturday 10 January 2009.

First session at Cowdenbeath is from 7pm on Sunday 11 January 2009.

Please contact me if you are unsure which session you should attend

Brian Campbell

Club Coach

01383 737537 / 07980 691732

Message From Treasurer

Dear All,

Happy New Year - hope everyone had a good time over the holiday period. For all of the players receiving this message it will soon be time to return to training to see if you can make 2009 another successful year for Dunfermline Waterpolo Club. For me it’s time to remind you that the 2009 Membership fee of £25 is now due and that the 2009 monthly Standing Order charge is £18 per member (capped at a maximum monthly figure of £45 where there are three or more playing members from one family at the club). I would therefore ask that you arrange to alter your current Standing Order to the new amount with immediate effect and that the Annual Membership Fee is either paid directly to the Club via the Bank details you already have or by cash/cheque to Brian or Iain at poolside (they in turn will pass it on to myself). If you have viewed the information section of the Club website you will see that we are also affording members the facility to spread the annual membership charge over the course of the year by adding £2 per month to the regular payment.

I look forward to your assistance in making the necessary adjustments to the payments as soon as possible and thank you for your continued support of the club.

Regards,

Roddy MacKay