Hi All

My name is Mike Short, and I am the Head Coach of Radcliffe senior men’s water polo squad. I am supported on the coaching team by Simon Baker and Steve Davidson. Simon is also currently coaching the under 15s NAGS team. 

I am sending you this email to make you aware of the development pathway for junior players into the Radcliffe senior men’s squad and our vision for the continued development and success of the club.

It was agreed with the Junior Head Coach that any junior players, aged 15+, with the appropriate skill levels and ability would be identified and offered the opportunity to attend a senior training session. One of the senior coaching team would then send an email to the parent/guardian inviting that player to a senior training session. Depending on the outcome of that session a further assessment would be made by the senior coaches and if suitable an invite would be given for that player to start attending senior sessions. However, the acceptance to the invite would be based purely on the decision of the player, parent/guardian.

I would now like to give you the background as to how the senior team have got to where they are today, and what our aim is for taking the team forward. When I first came to Radcliffe to coach, there was no junior development, and the senior team were only playing local league water polo in the Bolton and District league. As things progressed and via Bury Development, Radcliffe started the junior water polo section. As you are all aware, they have become very successful and due to their success, I and the other senior coaches realised that the senior team needed to play at a higher level to attract our younger players to continue to play water polo at Radcliffe.

The Bolton and District league was disbanded and replaced by the M6 league. At this point we made the decision to apply to join Division 5 of the British Water Polo League, we would use the local M6 league to integrate our younger players into senior water polo with the sole intention of playing them in the fifth division of the British Water Polo League. This came to fruition in May 2022 when we entered a team into the qualifying tournament at Haberdashers School, Elstree, Hertfordshire. The team consisted of several senior players with seven or eight younger players that had come up from the junior ranks. The tournament was a success and in October 2022 we competed in our first Division 5 weekend, at Sheffield. We attracted a lot of attention as it was highlighted on how many young players we had in the team and how well they performed. Unfortunately, the British Water Polo League felt that there were too many divisions and decided that over a two-year period the league would be reduced from five divisions to three. Several of the teams in Division 5 decided to form what is now known as the National Conference League to continue playing at a higher level. I am pleased to say that Radcliffe was one of the founder members of the National Conference League (NCL) and it started in 2023. Since then, the senior team has developed and gone from strength to strength. This could not have been achieved without the participation of our younger players.

There are two divisions in the NCL and Radcliffe and on the 29th of March 2025 became division two champions winning promotion into division one.

Our long-term goal is for Radcliffe to have a senior team in the British Water Polo League. However, for this to be achieved, it is important to know that we continue to have a feed of good junior players. The support of you as parents/guardian’s and the continued support of the Junior Water Polo Section will ensure our future success. We need our younger players to be actively encouraged to progress into the Radcliffe senior squad.

Regards

Mike Short (senior water polo coach)