THE Bahamas Mantas Water Polo Club recently participated in the First Annual Florida International Water Polo Tournament in Pompano Beach. The Bahamas sent two teams in the 13-and-under and 10-and-under divisions.
The club’s president Chris Illing and his son, Peter, also competed on the Fort Lauderdale Masters team. The two young teams were out of their depth in the first two games as the style of play was very aggressive and the physical size of the opposing teams was much greater.
However, testament to the skill and determination of our players, they quickly learned how to minimise the other teams’ aggression and they began to focus on their own strategy and they started winning games.
The 10-and-under team took home the silver medal. Leading goal scorers for the Bahamas were Loron Bain (22 goals), Marcus Moncur (14 goals), Gabriel Encinar (14 goals) and Thomas Illing (12 goals). Loron Bain, despite his young age, was dominant in this competition against all teams. Loron has already made the 16-and-under CARIFTA national water polo team representing The Bahamas in Curacao May 1-5, 2014.
The masters’ competition had a team from Hungary, a country with eight Olympic gold medals in water polo and their VIP player Rajmund Fodor, two time Olympic champion from Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004.
Illing’s team finished second just behind the gold medallist Hungarian team. The Bahamas Mantas Water Polo Club offers water polo and swimming programmes at the Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex for boys and girls aged 6 to 17.
For information on the club, please go to bahamaswaterpolo.com or check the club out on Facebook Bahamas Water Polo.
10 & Under Results
The Bahamas team won the silver medal
Game #1 Bahamas 7 – Hurricanes Dania Beach 16
Goal scorers: Gabriel Encinar 2, Kaylan Turnquest 2, Marcus Moncur 2, Thomas Illing 1
“We tied up the defence a bit late and the opponent scored eight goals in the first quarter. After that we played catch up with them but we could not close the gap in the remaining time.
Game #2 Bahamas 16 – Fort Lauderdale Blue 5
Goal scorers: Thomas Illing 6, Marcus Moncur 5, Gabriel Encinar 5
Game #3 Bahamas 8 – Fort Lauderdale White 6
Goal scorers: Marcus Moncur 4, Gabriel Encinar 2, Thomas Illing 2
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