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Blueys Girls Shine for Sydney West
The NSW Combined High Schools girls State Championships were recently held at Mittagong pool. Of the 13 girls selected in the Sydney West team – 11 of them were Blueys players, which shows our clubs growing strength in our region. They were Mikala McConnell (c), Aleasha Vreeken (vc), Kathleen Watson, Stephanie Polivka, Kristy Stanton, Sam Thomas, Alaine Watson, Bek Henderson, Ashley Western, Louise Moodie and Courtney Vreeken. The team was coached by Eddie Vreeken and Nicole Ware. The Sydney West team played well and showed Great Spirit throughout the comp - they finished in 6th place after some good wins against Sydney South West, Sydney North West and South Coast.
Mikala McConnell and Aleasha Vreeken were selected in the NSW CHS 2nds team to compete at the NSW All Schools Championships held in March next year against Catholic and Independent schools. Kathleen Watson received the Goalkeepers Encouragement Award for the most improved Goalkeeper in the competition– an award to be very proud of. Congratulations girls.
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Photo: Kathleen Watson, Mikala McConnell and Aleasha Vreeken all perform well at NSWCHS championships. |
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BLUEYS TEAMS take 1st, 2nd & 3rd at the MUG
The Manning Mug was held last weekend in Wingham and all Blueys teams had fantastic success with the Pink Ladies winning the tournament, the Blueys men finishing 2nd and the Blue Ladies finishing 3rd. As per usual, it was a big weekend and the Blueys teams out partyed everyone else. In the pool, everyone played strong, tough water polo and the final results showed our clubs continued improvement.
The Pink Ladies are: Nicole Birrell, Trace Galea, Cheryl Simpson, Kerrie Malone, Jill Doyle, Barb Ballhause, Kate Yabsley, Penny Hodgers & Vicky Gorham. The Blue Ladies are: Robyn Ryan, Mikala McConnell, Leanne Moss, Jenny Dooley, Ali Graham, Julie Celeban, Lorinda Gobbo, Elissa Piper and Michelle Graham. The Blueys men are: Danny Armour, Greg Malone, Ben Morgan, Pete Dennis, Chris Taylor, Michael Malone, Matt Heyhoe and Bob Lovatt.
(Click thumbnail to view image - - - or photos page for more)The Pink Ladies beat Parramatta 9-0, the Blue Ladies 10-2, UNE 12-1, Manning Valley 7-4 in the round games, then played Manning Valley in the Grand Final and won 6-2. Jill Doyle and Penny Hodgers scored some great goals over the weekend, but all the Pink Ladies played great and scored some good goals – including some great backhands against UNE.
The Blue Ladies lost to Hunter CHS 5-4, to Pink Ladies 10-2 and to Manning Valley 4-3 but beat Parramatta 6-2 and beat UNE 9-1. The game against Manning Valley was fantastic, the scores were pretty even right throughout the game and MV only scored the winning goal with 1 minute to go. All the Blue Ladies played good polo, but a special mention to Mikala McConnell who was awesome and Ali Graham who also played strong.
The Blueys guys won all games except against Wyong, who they lost to 7-3 on Saturday morning. They beat Manning Valley 10-4, Penrith 9-6, Drummoyne 8-4 and UNE 9-3. They made the Grand Final where they took it to Wyong and only lost 8-7. Danny Armour played great in goals. As usual Ben Morgan was brilliant on the field and Greg Malone played good as well.
Out of the pool - Boat races were held on Saturday night and the Pink Ladies team, made up of Penny Hodgers, Kerrie Malone, Nicole Birrell and Kate Yabsley won their heat and made it to the Grand Final. They were proud of their effort as they beat a number of mens teams (including the Blueys boys) and were the only female team in the Final. They finished 4th overall. Well done girls.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL BLUEYS PLAYERS WHO COMPETED AT THE MUG
WHAT A FANTASTIC RESULT!!!
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GOLD MEDAL WINNERS - BLUEYS LADIES
SYDNEY WINTER COMP 3RD GRADE CHAMPIONS
For the first time ever, Blue Mountains Water Polo entered a Ladies 3rd grade team in the Sydney Metro Comp this winter. The Blueys L3 team went through the season undefeated (though they had a couple of close games against UTS-Ryde and St George) and played the Grand Final on the 27th of August against St George. It was a fast game, but the Blueys girls took control early and led throughout - winning the game 8-4.
The first goal was scored by Leanne Moss, who positioned herself perfectly in front of the goals to receive a well timed pass. St George scored 2 quick goals to take the lead 2-1, then the Blueys picked up their pace and at the end of the first quarter they were leading 4-2. At half time Blueys were up 5-2, at three quarter time they were up 7-2. Goals scored by Kerrie Malone 3, Kerry Martin 2, Jill Doyle, Michelle Graham and Leanne Moss. The whole team played fantastic water polo. They played as a team in both attack and defense, which left St George unable to attack in their usual style. Kathleen Watson saved some great shots, she had her best game of the year. Aleasha Vreeken played strong defense - mostly in Centre Back and Jill Doyle worked hard in Centre Forward and did lots of driving to gain exclusions. Michelle Graham also defended really well in Centre Back. The Grand Final team consisted of Kathleen Watson (goals), Kerrie Malone, Jill Doyle, Kerry Martin, Nicole Ware, Leanne Moss, Aleasha Vreeken, Michelle Graham, Lorinda Gobbo, Mikala McConnell and Elissa Piper. The team was coached by Kerrie Malone and Eddie Vreeken. Out of over 85 players, the Blueys L3 team had 5 players ranked in the top 25 goalscorers in the grade which is a fantastic achievement in itself. Kerrie Malone was the highest scorer in L3, Kerry Martin, Nicole Ware, Aleasha Vreeken and Jill Doyle were not far behind. A big congratulations to the girls for a brilliant effort and a big thanks from the team to Eddie for all his time and effort (not to mention his yelling) with us this season.
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It’s been a big year in water polo for the Vreeken family - especially Eddie and Aleasha.
Although he hates to admit it, Eddie has been playing water polo for over 30 years - since the age of 12. He started his coaching career as a player/coach at Blacktown when he was just 15 years old and has never looked back. “Someone once said to me, if water polo was a HSC exam, you’d pass with flying colours,” Eddie laughs. “I still love helping players learn and I’m learning from every game I watch. That’s the secret to staying ahead of your opponents.”
Eddie is the club coach for Blue Mountains and has been “officially” for the past 2 years. In that time he’s helped the club and its players to step up to a new level of water polo. Blueys have gone from having one mens team playing in the Sydney Metro comp, to currently having 5 mens and womens teams entered. Out of the 5 teams that are playing in the city comp this winter season, 4 of them are serious Grand Final contenders. Not only that, last summer season, Eddie coached our Ladies 4th grade team to a Premiership Win. An outstanding effort – this was the first medal Blue Mountains Water Polo has won in the City Comp for 13 years. For any normal person, taking on the position of club coach and looking after 5 teams would be enough – but not for Ed. He is also the coach of the Sydney West girls’ team, NSW Intensive Training Clinics (every Tues and Thurs morning at Ashfield Pool) and this year he coached the NSW under 14 A team in the East Coast Challenge.
The EC Challenge was held in Sydney last month with teams competing from NSW, Qld, ACT, Vic and SA. Eddie’s girls went through undefeated and only had 3 goals scored against them the whole tournament. “The girls played really well as a team” Eddie said, “their spirit was awesome. They kept things simple and showed plenty of discipline. Having these qualities is what made them so successful.” These qualities are ones which Eddie himself possesses and it looks like he’s passed on to daughter Aleasha.
In the past 12 months Aleasha has represented Blue Mountains in the State Under 14’s and Under 16’s competitions, she has played for Sydney West, she represented NSW in the Under 14’s B team in 05 and the NSW Under 14’s A team this year, and just last month she travelled to New Zealand to play for the NSWCHS Under 15’s team. (Not to mention she currently plays for Blueys in the Under 14 and L3 teams). The New Zealand trip was a great experience, in the 1st 7 days they competed in the Under 16’s Pan Pacific Champs against 24 teams from NZ, USA, QLD and further a field. The girls finished in 6th place. After the Pan Pacs, the NSWCHS team played against NZCHS in a tri series for the Trans Tasman Cup. NSW won all 3 games and returned home with the cup in their keeping. Aleasha played some fantastic polo in NZ, learning a lot from her team mates and her bigger and older opposition Aleasha is only just 14, playing in an Under 16 comp) - and she scored plenty of goals.
Both Aleasha and Eddie have plenty of ambitions for their water polo future. In the short term Aleasha would love to win this winter seasons Grand Final with her Ladies 3rd grade team. Goals for the upcoming season are to continue to play well for Blue Mountains, but also to try to make the NSW under 16’s squad, NSWCHS under 15’s squad as well as the NSWCHS Open Squad. Long term - well like every young rising star, Aleasha would one day love to represent Australia. For Eddie, his goals are simple, to help Blueys players improve. He’d like to see teams start to win some premierships in the city comp; he’d love to see more Blueys players selected in rep teams at both Country and State level. And he wants to continue to work hard with the Sydney West girls. He’ll also put his hand up to coach the NSW under 14’s again.
While we’re giving the Vreekens a wrap, we should mention the other talented family members as well. Courtney at the age of 12 is currently playing in the Blueys under 14’s team AND the ladies 5th grade team. Courtney was selected in the NSW under 13 development squad last year and has been selected in the Sydney West Schoolgirls Squad for this year. The youngest family member, Renay, (who is only 10) began playing Flippaball on a Wednesday night last summer and has played a couple of games with the under 14’s during winter. Both girls show the same ability and potential in the pool as their Dad and their big sister.
And let’s not forget Mum Kerrie - who doesn’t play - but she spends so much time poolside that she may as well. Kerrie has travelled all over with Aleasha, from Albury to New Zealand and from Taree to Melbourne. The way the girls are going it doesn’t look like Mum or Dad will get a rest anytime soon…….
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What an awesome effort! The Blue Mountains Ladies 4th Grade Team won the Grand Final.
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Throughout the season the L4 team played some great games and finished in 4th place, which saw them play a tough semi final against Parramatta - they won 3-2. Next the girls were up against a much older and very experienced Cronulla side (who have made the grand final for the last 4 seasons). Again a tight match, the Blueys girls won 8-7.
Here comes the Grand Final ….
The Grand Final match did not disappoint spectators. They played the Sydney Dolphins (who were undefeated throughout the season and finished Minor Premiers). The Blueys girls scored first (via Kerry Martin) and remained one goal up throughout the game. Kerry scored 2 great goals from outside the 5m. Nicole Ware and Jill Doyle both scored from well timed drives and Naomi Thomas scored the winning goal with 3 ½ minutes to go - via a great tap in (passed from Jill). It was an exciting win and an even more exciting game. This is the first medal won in the Metro comp for Blue Mountains in 13 years.
Big Thanks to Coach Eddie Vreeken for all his time and effort this season – this win would not have been possible without him!
The Ladies 4th grade team consisted of Kathleen Watson, Sam Anderson, Jill Doyle, Kerry Martin, Leanne Moss, Julie Celeban, Nicole Ware, Jenny Dooley, Naomi Thomas, Lorinda Gobbo, Alaine Watson, Aleasha Vreeken and Sam Thomas.
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Blueys Men Win Port Stephens Championship
The Port Stephens Championships were held on the 11 th and 12 th of February at Raymond Terrace. The weather was perfect and the water polo was even better.The Blueys men entered a small team of just 7 players consisting of Danny Armour, Ben Morgan, Greg Malone, Pete Dennis, Michael Malone, Matt Heyhoe (Rookie) and Bob Lovatt.The Blueys played and won games against Raymond Terrace A 7-5, Cessnock 8-2 and Shoalhaven 10-4 on Saturday. They played a muck around game on Sunday morning against Cessnock, then had a Grand Final Match against Manning Valley in the afternoon. The Grand Final was close for awhile, with the score 2 goals each at half time.Blueys kicked into 2 nd gear in the 2 nd half and 2 great centre forward goals from Pete Dennis got the boys going. The final score was 6-2. Goals were scored by Pete Dennis 2, Ben Morgan 2 and Bob Lovatt 2. Goalie Danny Armour made same sensational saves throughout the tournament which played a major role in the Blueys success.
The Blueys ladies did not enter a team, but 6 Blueys ladies (Nicole Birrell, Michelle Graham, Kerrie Malone, Brianna Davis, Lorraine Walsh and Shannon Bourke) represented UTS-Ryde at the tournament. UTS-Ryde ladies also played Manning Valley in the Grand Final and won the game 6-1.
Blueys Mens Team
Back Row: Greg Malone, Michael Malone, Ben Morgan, Matt Heyhoe
Front Row: Pete Dennis, Danny Armour, Bob Lovatt
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