Registration, training and the rest!
Information on player registration for the 2019/20 season, training sessions starting and key updates for each age group!
Registration
This year the registration form can be completed online at the following link:
Payment must still be made either in person (cash or cheque) or by bank transfer. Registration will also be available at each junior session for the first two weeks in September, where paper forms will be available.
Please note that all players and members must be registered before taking part in training or matches. This will be strictly enforced. All members must be registered by the end of September.
Training
Training will resume for juniors in the first week of September. This excludes the BRA session, details of which are still being confirmed.
U13 to U17, Grove, Wednesday 4 September, 8.00 to 9.30
U9 to U13, Falls, Thursday 5 September, 7.15 to 8.30
For more information, visit our training page or contact us.
FUNdamentals
This year our Thursday night session will work differently for U9s. If your child is U9 and confident in the water (able to swim one width of the pool or comfortable in 1.2m of water) they should attend the U9 session. If they are a non-swimmer and not comfortable in deeper water they should attend the FUNdamental session.
The FUNdamental session has a greater number of coaches where the focus will be on developing your child’s ability and their confidence in the water. Both sessions will take place in the Falls Leisure Centre on a Thursday evening.
FUNdamentals - 7.15 to 8.15
U9s - 7.45 to 8.30
If you have any questions about this change contact us or get in touch with one of the coaches via WhatsApp.
Key dates
We’ve published a news article with key dates for the year ahead. At the moment the fixtures haven’t been published, but watch this space!
Ulster Skills Camp
Ulster Skills Camps are taking place at the end of August and throughout September. For experienced players it’s important to note that the Ulster interprovincial teams will be selected at these camps. They’re also a chance for all players to meet new people, experience a different type of coaching and learn new skills.
If you want to know more, contact us asap. We’ll ask you to complete a form and forward payment.
U15 Boys - Friday 6 & Friday 20 September
U17 Boys - Friday 6 & Friday 20 September
Recruitment
The start of a new school year is a great time to welcome new players to the club. If you know anyone who you think might be interested, let us know.
Also, we are always keen to get flyers and posters into schools and youth groups etc. If you think you could help us with this, we can get the flyers and posters to you.
Finally, we ran some ‘taster events’ last year and they were great fun. If you know a school or youth group that would like to give water polo a go, get in touch and we’ll provide the pool time, facilities and coaches.
Fixtures just around the corner!
Information about the release of the 2019/20 fixture list, cup competitions and qualifying games.
Fixture list
The National Water Polo Committee has announced that the fixture list for the 2019/20 season will be announced on 1 September.
Key dates and venues
The following information has been announced regarding the Irish Cups, interprovincial games and invitational tournaments:
U15 Bridgestone Tournament - 28 and 29 September - Belfast (Falls and Grove)
Interprovincials - 2 and 3 November - Bangor (Aurora)
U19 Cup - 22 to 24 November - Limerick (University)
U17 Cup - 17 to 19 January - Belfast (Lisnasharragh)
Brother Philip Knockout Cup - 22 and 23 February, Limerick (University)
Irish Senior Cup - 23 to 25 April - Bangor (Aurora)
U15 Cup - 2 to 4 May - Galway
U13 Cup - 30 and 31 May - Dublin (NAC)
Irish Cup Competitions
Where there are more than 8 teams entered in a cup competition qualifier games will be played to select the final 8 teams. The four semi-finalists from last season will automatically qualify. This applies to U15, U17 and U19 Cups. There is no change to the qualifying process for the Irish Senior Cup.
Irish Senior Cup qualifying
Group A: Clonard, Drogheda, Half Moon
Group B: Cú Chulainn, Corrib
Boys U19 Cup qualifying
Group A: Cú Chulainn, Clontarf, Sandycove
Croup B: North Dublin, Cathal Brugha
Boys U17 Cup Qualifying*
Group A: Cú Chulainn, Cathal Brugha, Clontarf
Group B: Athlone, Drogheda
*Round Robin (single group of 5 round robin qualifying tournament)
Brother Philip Cup groups
Group A: Half Moon, Corrib, Cathal Brugha, Drogheda
Group B: Vincents, Sandycove, North Dublin
Ulster Skills Camp U15 & U17
In the lead up to this years Junior Inter-Pro Tournament, Swim Ulster are holding skills camps at the end of August and through September. This will help the coaching team select squads for the tournament.
The sessions are also open to players who don’t want to try out for the Ulster Squads but feel they would benefit from the coaching.
In order to attend the sessions please fill out the relevant form (see below) and return it to Joe by email at cuchulainn.waterpolo@gmail.com.
Details, including venue, dates and times, are included in each form.
The cost is £10 and this can be sent to the clubs account.
Forms:
Swim Ulster Open Water Championship 2019
For Sale.
One unused Open Water Swim Float.
Things they said:
Open water swimming is great craic, you'll love it.
It's not that cold.
Loads of us do it.
Things I have learned:
It is a decent bit of craic.
It is that cold.
Only a few people do it.
You can interpret the results anyway you see fit.
On Sunday 3 of us headed to Let's Go Hydro for the Swim Ulster Open Water Championships.
Cathal Fitzpatrick did the 1500m. That's 2 laps of the reservoir.
Fergus Carlin and Michael Bradley (that would be myself) did the 750m. 1 lap for those numerically challenged.
We all opted for the Skins category to maintain our integrity
Now Cathal, he's a proper athlete, he played Water Polo for Ireland a few weeks ago so you know he can move. As I stood watching him come around for his first lap I thought he wasn’t moving so smoothly and that caused great concern, for myself, I’m not fit and if 1 lap is crushing Cathal it might destroy me.
There wasn’t much time to chicken out as the 750m started pretty much straight after Cathal’s crowd swam on. So in I went with one minute to acclimatise before the race started. Fergus, opted to dive in when the horn blew to started the race. I’m not sure what technique is best but you know it’s going to catch your breath when you jump in, you know you need to control your breathing and try pace yourself. But for me, on my first open water swim that all went out the window. I was reduced to breaststroke breathers every 20m or so. There was also the swimming in a zig-zag fashion which was just adding unnecessary distance. But we all made it around the course. Probably not a massive achievement, but considering I was thinking about calling it quits after about 250m that feels good.
Onto the results ( I will not mention the number of competitors in the categories).
Cathal did his 1500m in 24 minutes on the dot. First in the male skins.
Fergus did his 750m in 12m 22s, first in the male skins.
I did the 750m in 16m 28s, third in the male skins.
He’s a picture of two athletes and a fat guy who isn’t sure if he’s going to faint or puke.
Never Again.
Summer announcements
Summer break
The final junior sessions of the year will take place on Tuesday 18 June (BRA) and Thursday 20 June (Falls).
The junior sessions will resume at the beginning of September. Dates will be confirmed via email, website and social media.
Club summer training
We are currently organising a pre-season camp for junior players. We are being supported by Belfast City Council and are planning the camp with Diamonds Water Polo Club.
We are aiming to hold it over two weeks in the second half of August at RBAI school pool. We are hoping to confirm details within the next week or two and will be in touch.
National Academy
The National Academy will be held in Limerick on 9-11 August. It is focusing on players at U15 and U17 level. Players who have been involved in national or regional squads will be invited to attend by regional coaches. We are in talks with Ulster Water Polo to find out more about this process.
Registration
From the start of next year (September onwards) Swim Ireland will be monitoring club sessions to ensure that all players training and competing are registered, for insurance purposes.
Each child must register with the club and pay an annual fee of £40. This is in addition to club fees payable by all members. Flexible payment options and family rates are available.
Parents’ rota
From the start of next year we will be introducing a parents’ rota for each junior session (one parent to be at each session, taking it in turns over a number of weeks / months).
If you would like to help out then please let us know by speaking to a coach or emailing the club on cuchulainn.waterpolo@gmail.com.
Training in 2019/20
We have yet to confirm training sessions for next year but are confident that we will be offering the following. Please note the age groups, particularly if your son or daughter is too old for the Thursday night session.
U13 to U17, Monday, 4.30 to 5.30, RBAI (swim training)*
U12 to U16, Tuesday, 7.30 to 8.30, BRA
U13 to U17, Wednesday, 8.00 to 9.30, Grove*
U9 to U13, Thursday, 7.30 to 8.30, Falls
*From next year, we are hoping to offer these sessions together with Diamonds Water Polo Club.