2016 was a landmark year for the club for several reasons. After last year, we feel we have reached another stepping stone in our development as well as another platform to greater achievements.
At the very beginning of 2016, the club entered a new chapter as we participated in the Welsh Senior League, amongst the other clubs in the nation. Not only did this competition saw a new challenge for our Senior Men squad, but for our newly-established Senior Women squad who were competing for the very first time. The first bout of matches took place at the Wales National Pool in Swansea, with the Senior Men suffering a defeat against Welsh Wanderers and securing a win against Newport while the Senior Women also lost to Welsh Wanderers before being victorious against Swansea. These two checkpoints in the club's development reflects how much we continue to progress for the future. Cwm Draig's Welsh Senior League campaign continued in April, where Newport International Sports Village was the venue for the second bout of matches. The Senior Men produced two magnificent wins against Swansea and Carmarthen to finish the competition in second place.
2016 was a magnificent year for the players associated with the club who have been called-up to compete for the national squads and have helped their team achieve on an international level. In March, several players from our club got called-up to play for Wales for the European Nations / U18s Junior Men Water Polo Championship in Vienna, Austria. Following a string of valiant performances, which included matches against the hosts, South Africa, Poland as well as wins against Czech Republic and England, the team finished in a commendable fourth place. Following Wales’ Junior Men’s fantastic campaign, attention turned to the Junior Women and their European Nations, held in Odense, Denmark. The Junior Women squad also featured a few players from Cwm Draig. The Junior Women faced Denmark, Malta, England and Ireland throughout their tournament, putting in an admirable display in every match. In May, it was the turn of Wales’ Senior Men to compete in the European Nations, hosted in Malta, a squad which had included more Dragons. The Senior Men’s tournament entailed matches against South Africa, Austria, Ireland, Denmark plus a triumphant and dramatic win against Lithuania. The Wales' Senior Women containing more Cwm Draig associated players locked horns with the likes of Ireland and Austria for their European Nations in Prague, Czech Republic. In September, the Welsh squads competed in the North Sea Cup with the inclusion of several Dragons. The Junior Men and Women competed in Dublin and overcame Ireland, Denmark and Scotland to emerge as winners of the North Sea Cup. The Senior Women squad travelled to Aberdeen, where they faced Ireland, Scotland and England in their North Sea Cup adventure. During this period, several Senior Men players of Cwm Draig travelled to Barcelona with other members of the Welsh Senior Squad to play clubs from Hungary, Italy and Spain - more substantial international experience for our players as they competed some of the top teams in Europe.
Wales national water polo squads at European Nations and North Sea Cup, featuring several players associated with Cwm Draig; including Meg Jones, Erin Jones, Jo-Jo Chesworth Rickards, Breanna Taylor, Seren Jones-Reddy, Darrah Jones-Reddy, Faye Warren, Chrissie Eveleigh, Shannon Lewis-Griffiths, Jacob Edwards, Alun Chesworth-Rickards, Steffan Geary, Lewis Gilmour, James Mayne and Baris Akay.
For the first time in our history, we had three different squads participating in the Bristol and West Water Polo League. This was the debut season of our Senior Women and it only took their second match to grab a win in an away match against Newton Abbot. After putting in battling displays in defeats to the top three teams in the Women's Division, the Dragons made more history as they became the first team to play competitive sport at Lido Ponty since its restoration. Lido Ponty has historic roots with water polo, dating back to the 1920s, therefore it was an honour to be a part of a venue with such prodigious history. The visitors for this historic match was Cheltenham, an encounter which provided drama to the final whistle as it finished all square. Following that result and a few more tough losses got back, we got back to winning ways towards the end of the season with two terrific victories home and away to Devonport Royals. We also had a default win against Newton Abbot, giving us a total of four wins and one draw, meaning we finished in a respectable fourth place in our debut season, narrowly above local rivals Welsh Wanderers!
*Team deducted two points for second cancellation of a match
Cwm Draig making history at Lido Ponty - training and competing in the summer of 2016!
The Junior squad faced a very similar obstacle in their season, there were three superior teams in the division who looked like were going to battle it out for the title, which suggested it was going to be a frustrating season for the Dragons. It started off rather well, two wins and draw in our opening four matches. The next five matches were a bitter taste of reality and just how competitive the league is as we only won one match. We completed the season on a more positive note, as we were victorious twice and were handed a default win in our remaining five games. We even managed to secure an exceptional win against Newton Abbot in that run of matches. Overall, we secured six wins and a draw out of fourteen matches, giving us thirteen points and a fifth placed finish.
*Team deducted two points for second cancellation of a match
There was quite a bit of optimism for the Senior Men, as they were showing constant signs of improvement as previous seasons suggested. The team had found a philosophy and style which suited them and started to bring out good performances out of the team and even positive results. When the team were at full strength, they implemented their strategy and began the first half of the season quite well, earning two wins and two draws, including a stunning away victory against eventual champions Newport. Our Senior Squad were showing signs of improvement and looked more accomplished after every game. The second half of the season was disappointing, as the team showed habits of previous seasons and had a inclination to capitulate during the late phases of games. In the last five games, they lost three by an incredibly narrow margin of two goals, plus an agonising loss at home by a single goal. We finished the season in fifth place, knowing it could have been so much better.
*Team deducted two points for second cancellation of a match
In July, the club had the Annual Presentation Night - another well-organised event by the committee, credit to them. There were several winners on the night, here are them all:
High Achievement Award winners: Darrah Jones-Reddy, Erin Jones, Meg Jones, Jo-Jo Chesworth-Rickards, Nathan Geary, James Mayne, Steffan Geary, Shannon Lewis-Griffiths, Jacob Edwards, Alun Chesworth-Rickards and Lewis Gilmour.
Junior Player of the Year: Alun Chesworth-Rickards
Junior Players' Player of the Year: Lewis Gilmour
Senior Men Player of the Year: Lewis Gilmour
Senior Men Players' Player of the Year: Matthew Griffiths
Senior Women Player of the Year: Meg Jones
Senior Women Players' Player of the Year: Chrissie Eveleigh
Overall, it has been an extraordinary and phenomenal year for Cwm Draig. We have reached different heights in 2016, which has hopefully set the platform for a good year for us in 2017. As ever, we'd like to thank our players, the parents (our fans!) and our committee for their continuous commitment, effort and support all throughout the year! COME ON YOU DRAGONS!