Drogheda Ladies Water Polo Award winners (from left): Rebecca O’Donovan, Gillian Fritz and Ellen Joyce. Photo: Kieran Carr.
With another season of water polo about to get underway, and after all the excitement of the Paris Olympics, which many Drogheda Water Polo Club members had the good fortune to attend, appetites have been whetted and the swimmers are raring to go.
Training starts back in earnest next week when junior members take to the water in Aura for their usual Monday session between 6 and 8pm.
Following on from the success they achieved last season when the U12 mixed team reached the semi-final stage of the National Cup the junior teams are once again looking forward to a busy programme. There isn’t a huge amount of time before their first major tournament of the year as the Irish U13 Cup takes place in Lisnasharragh, Belfast over the weekend of Oct 25 – 27th, with the season book ended with the Under 12 Cup in the NAC in early June 2025.
Following the club’s successful application to the Department of Sport for capital funding the club has secured funding for a timing system which will hopefully see competitive water polo returning to Drogheda for the first time in over a decade as they hope to host some Leinster junior league matches during the season.
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The senior men’s and ladies’ teams are in the water again next Tuesday in the NAC where after many years of wrangling the Drogheda club has finally secured the use of the much larger diving pool which should facilitate a much more effective training programme.
The men’s team will be hoping to build on the successes of last season as they enter their fourth top flight campaign, having finished a very respectable 4th in a very competitive division last season. The reward for the 4th place league finish is a seeding in next year’s Irish Senior Cup which takes place in Limerick on the weekend of May 8 – 10.
Having broken their duck at last season’s event in Bangor the men will be hoping to get to the knock-out stages this season. The fourth top flight season for the Men’s team starts on September 29th in the NAC when they play Sandycove.
The Women’s team will also be striving to go one better this season as for the last four years in a row they have reached the final of the Irish Senior Cup only to heartbreakingly lose each time. The first three of these defeats came at the hands of St Vincent’s who have been the dominant force in Ladies Water Polo for over a decade, and having beaten them in the semi-final this year the Drogheda ladies came up short against Belfast side Diamonds in the decider.
Hopefully they will finally break their duck this season and bring home the much coveted title. The women’s team kick off their season against North Dublin in the NAC on the same day as the men when they face off against North Dublin.
Meanwhile, the club will be hosting a free try out night for junior players in Aura on Monday, September 9th at 7pm. All kids are welcome to the session, with the only condition that they must be able to swim 100 metres (4 lengths of the Aura pool), without stopping.