Men’s update

sjamg — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 13:33:29 +0000

It’s been a year since the last post so it was about time we posted an updated on the men’s team news.

We have kick-started our pre-season training for BWPL and this can mean one thing and one thing only: SWIMMING. With the new, restructured format of National League and a very competitive Division 2 coming up in September, we decided that our fitness has to be top notch. Bizarrely, everyone seems to agree and people are enjoying the swim sets!

London Premier League has also started this month and we played our first two away matches, beating Ealing 14-2 and Croydon 17-11. Or next matches are in June, so keep tuned for some more updates (hopefully more regular!)

Update from Catford training

simongardnerbond — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 22:17:38 +0000

Great training tonight with 12 guys turning up which meant we could do man up drills!
We also enjoyed the awesome new pub that has also offered to sponsor us! Watch this space!

Second Update From Alkis “The Animal” Voliotis….

simongardnerbond — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:09:42 +0000

Hi all!

I thought I should turn this into a habit and send a short update of my situation while I am on leave. I am in Volos with Maya on a five day leave from the army for Easter. I actually spent Easter in the base grilling whole lambs on a spit and doing unbelievable chores to bring the base in an acceptable state for the visit of and inspection by high-ranking officers. In the end though (and after a few glasses of smuggled-in wine) I managed to crack both sides of my colonel’s red egg (a very old Orthodox Easter tradition)- no punishment inflicted due to being holy day!

If I had to choose a few phrases to characterise the past couple of months these would be: lack of sleep (average 4h a day plus any power naps I may manage to squeeze in without being caught), discipline (countless “yes sir!” a day to officers many years younger than me), standing, marching in the heat and cold, keeping watch in the middle of the night, solid friendships. Certainly being in the army is one of the weirdest experiences I have ever had. Spending your time 24/7 with the same diverse group of people under sometimes adverse conditions can be challenging but also rewarding as you learn how you react in different situations. If there is something I have missed the most is privacy and my sense of individuality - but I guess these are two things in sharp contrast with the idea of a disciplined army corps. Not to mention that I have to bite myself not to say “yes sir!” to the waitress when I am ordering a coffee during the hours I get to spend outside the base!Spending your days in an environment like this definitely results to a relative institutionalization – pretty much anything that happens in there becomes your world – not to say you own personal soap opera/ sitcom – , while it takes extra effort to stay in touch with the outside world. While the Greek economy is collapsing (or should I say “is being collapsed”; it is a long conversation, I know) I have been dealing with army small politics. Having said that, the fact that one week after we had been given it, we were asked to return the Easter allowance (which amounted to the vast sum of 4,40 euros!!) spoke volumes.

It is also true that I have landed hard on the realities of the Greek society and, more so, at its most extreme appearance. I regret to say so but the Greek army is probably the most corrupt part of the Greek pubic sector - meritocracy is more often than not sidelined and what matters is not who you are and what you can do but who you know, and this applies to the simplest soldier as well as to high ranking officers. Initially I was happy to be part of Signal Corps, as I believed that we were chosen for our degrees and experience but very soon it became obvious that many more people, with no skills or degrees whatsoever – but with the right connections – were joining our units. Now they have even told me I am too sincere and well-meaning to survive the Greek reality!

They say you have to be careful with what you wish for because it may come true; this couldn’t have been truer in my case when I wished I could go to an island for the rest of my service as I was selected to join the Greek forces in Cyprus. For a number of reasons, this was definitely against my will and although there is a law preventing forced transfers to Cyprus, especially for soldiers over the age of 25, it was definite that I had to go. I regret to say that I had to pull some strings of my own to change that, so I guess I am not only learning a lesson on how the Greek society works, I am also putting theory in praxis. As a result, in about a week I be leaving Kalamata and move up north, near the Greek-Bulgarian borders, at a Signals company within a motorized brigade. It is expected that I will serve there the rest of my time, i.e. about 7 months. From what I have heard it is not a very interesting place – mainly defined by the military bases and the presence of the army there – but it is only a 3h drive away from my home town and there may be some interesting mountains to explore in the area, provided that I will manage to sort myself out some mode of private transportation. So, my apologies, I know I promissed a flat on an island but a flat in the mountains may not be that bad after all…

I hope you are all well and keeping yourselves busy!

yours,

private Voliotis

Letters from the “Not-So Front Line”…

simongardnerbond — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:08:04 +0000

As you may or may not know, one of our senior players Alkis Voliotis is currently on an enforced leave of absence while he does his National Service in Greece. He has been sending updates which I will post here for you all to enjoy….

MISSIVE FROM A ROOKIE #1

Dear all,

My warmest greetings to everyone, I hope all is well,

It has been a while since I left London so I though it is high time I wrote something regarding my first experiences with the Greek army.

I am writing from Athens where I have come to spend a five-day (mandatory) leave from the army training centre in Kalamata , Southern Peloponnese. For the first two weeks and until we took the oath last Saturday we weren’t allowed out of the base so now it feels really good to be out in the “real” world again – it doesn’t take long to forget that there is a different world outside the army where people wear normal clothes and shoes, food is not served in metal trays with dips and where permission to visit the loo is not required (and no one will come looking for you there if you take too long!). At least the base is built on a hill which gives great view to the town and the bay below; this is more consoling that I had originally imagined, as it makes you feel less isolated.

The first two weeks in the training centre are customarily used for acclimatization to the peculiarities of the military life: the fact that you have to salute and obey anyone with at least one star on their lapel, even if they are 5-6 years younger than you, to wave goodbye to any notion of privacy awake or asleep, to become hardened against the Dolby surround of orchestrated snoring in the dorm and to appreciate the olfactory delights of army boots. On the bright side I have already made good friends and I have found interesting people to talk to. And dogs. There is a dog in the base – formerly stray but now one of the most well fed and protected dogs in the country for sure – who’s name is General Stelios and he is the most senior “person” in the base., at least 10 years old and with huge people management experience. Everyone respects him and in return he howls every time the bugle sounds (reveille, raising and lowering of the flag, lights out). The army provides endless opportunities for amusement….

Physical training is practically non existent, for the moment at least, besides the fact that we drop and take push ups under every possible excuse. There is an obsolete outdoors gym but to my question whether we can use it during free time I was told that it is allowed only under the supervision of a doctor and an officer(!) (the same for jogging) – apparently everyone is horrified by the bureaucracy in case one of us gets injured. So I assume in case of a war (touch wood) we will definitely beat the enemy in push ups but we will get injured the moment we try anything else!

We only start training on arms and the rest of our military kit this Friday so for the last two weeks we were basically drilled…in parading, endless at ease – attention transitions, and general military protocol (it takes a while to coordinate the right hand and left foot to salute and to spot officers in time to salute and from a safe distance). Thus my only weapon until now has been my….cutlery and my biggest enemy my army boots. Seriously, I had to sign for and receive a fork and a spoon which I have to carry around with me all the time – if someone forgets his the whole company (~200 people) has to wait for him to fetch them – there is always the chance of a surprise lunch or dinner ambush I guess, one has to be prepared. The army boots are stubbornly hard and it will take a lot of overnight waxing for the leather to soften…

Due to age and experience I have been given some advanced tasks and responsibilities which, for the moment at least, have allowed me to keep clear from the mountain “Potato”(but all other chores are shared equally – the most dreaded being the visit to the resort “toilets”).

Overall, I have been quite fortunate with my division as I have been assigned to the Signal Corps where the average age and educational level of most people in my intake are quite high. I share a dorm with 16 others (the ones in the attached photo – oath taking day – a bit of lunging always helps), seven of us are over the age of 27, and generally most people have at least a degree in some technical discipline. The other night I had to guard….the toilets with a dorm mate who has just finished his PhD in orthopaedic mechanics.

Rumor has it that my specialization within Signal Corps will be that of Operator of Means of Electronic War (seems exciting but as it usually happens,it will probably be something reversely glamorous to how it sounds) and I will be sent to the town of Larissa for one-month training. After the specialization training is over I will most likely be sent to an island in south eastern Aegean ( Rhodes or Kos…) for about five months. I will keep you posted in case anyone fancies visiting me there. Unfortunately I won’t be able to offer the luxury of army bank beds and gourmet army cuisine but there is a chance that I will rent a room in a village to sleep on nights off duty. All the above of course contain a fair amount of speculation and hearsay and I won’t be certain until I actually hold the transfer document in my hands – I wouldn’t be surprised if I actually ended up somewhere near in the northern Greek-Turkish borders!

Although it is still very early days (i.e. I haven’t rolled the dice many times yet) I can already testify that the army board game from the last newsletter is more or less faithful to reality.

Stay tuned….

Regards,

Alkis

First training session at Catford last night…

simongardnerbond — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 12:26:27 +0000

…was good! Only 5 of us turned up because of the late notice but its a really nice pool.

Unfortunately a bit too shallow to play a good length pitch but it feels wider than UL and is nice and light and clean.

When we get goals it will be great, meanwhile it is ideal for swimming and drills.

The only downside is that we struggled to identify a decent ‘Local’. We avoided the closest one that looked dodgy and went into an even dodgier one!! Going to have to do something about that for next week.

Poly go to Greece, July 2009

sjamg — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:42:51 +0000

After months and months of no activity on this blog, we’re back! And back with great news…

The men’s team have organized their annual summer trip. After a successfull tour to Marbella last year with the ladies, this year we take it to Greece. And more specifically Volos, a nice little town in central Greece with a long history in water polo.

The dates are fixed, Sunday 5 to Monday 13 July 2009. We have 13 players going so far and it looks like a great pre-season tour combined with holiday in Greece! There will be 2.5 hours of training daily at an outdoor olympic swimming pool and we are looking to organize a small tournament with the local teams for the weekend of 11-12 July.

It is also a social event, so wives, partners and friends are welcome. If there is anyone interested in joining us on this trip, just leave us a message and we’ll contact you.

National League: Second weekend match reports

sjamg — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 09:35:36 +0000

20^th & 21^st September, Manchester

Polytechnic – Manchester: 7 – 21

Being a game we had limited chances of winning, we decided beforehand to see it as a good chance to practice what we had been training on – and if we were close to them or winning, go for it. There were good parts in our game, but there were bad parts as well. When we play a good press in our defence, we have two of the best pit-defenders in the league and face no difficulties. When we are man down and everyone plays a dynamic, active defence, we manage to do well and save a few goals. When we circulate the ball nicely in attack and pass a good ball in the pit, where we are lucky to have strong pit players, we either score or get a major. When we play man up, if we stick to our ‘overload’ tactic, we score goals easily. The bad thing is that we seem to do all of the above only for a small part of the game. Again, it was our mistakes when we attack that gave the ball away and allowed them to score a few goals on a break.

Polytechnic – Invicta: 3 – 12

By far the worst game I have ever seen us play. We knew it was a game we had to win. We knew what tactics they would play and what tactics we had to play. We simply messed up! It was the worst game-play ever against a team that despite their bad goalie, they decided to play a drop. For some reason we would not try our shots, and when we did, they were under the worst circumstances and allowed them to counter. We started the game well but were unlucky to hit the post a few times while they were clinical in their finishing and we found ourselves 0-2 down. And then disaster! In the second and third quarter, we simply were not in the pool. The only thing we did right, was out man-down defence where I believe everyone is now convinced that the concept of and active and dynamic defence is working. I hope this game will be a good weak-up call and we start fresh the next weekend when we must win at least one game.

Lancaster – Polytechnic: 27 – 6

I know we should see every game seriously and claim any chances we have for a win, but no one really believed we would win this one and no one really tried to. What we should however do with such games, is use them to practise what we have been training on. There are very few teams – if any – that swim as fast as Lancaster, so we know what we have to do. Keep ball possession in attack and have good timing when trying to cover back. If you can not swim faster than you opponent, try to stop them from swimming, or start swimming before they do. There were periods during the game when we stood up to them and proved that Polytechnic is a really good team. But again, lacking fitness means that these are just bright exceptions in our game. Only when we can play for four quarters concentrated and up to our level can we start winning games.

The best thing out of this game – and I believe everyone who played will agree – is the performance of our team junior, Josh Brown. In his first weekend in NL and against probably the best team in UK now, Josh did exceptionally well. Scored a great first-ever goal, won a penalty, tried to do his best in defence and showed to some of us how focused and determined we have to be to turn things round for Poly. Well done Josh!

National League: First weekend match reports

sjamg — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 09:30:39 +0000

6^th & 7^th September, Sheffield

Cheltenham – Polytechnic: 18 – 6

First game of the season, against a team we know is fit. Their game is based on swimming and even though they lost their best player who joined Lancaster, they proved too strong for us. They played a half pool press and wrong decisions in our attack gave them the opportunity to break and score easy goals. Whenever we played a set game in our defence, we would not allow any goals in. It is the sort of game where we need to minimize out mistakes, play the whole 30 seconds of the clock when we attack and be ready to cover any breaks. Teamwork and communication are the key words if we want to stay in these games.

Penguin – Polytechnic: 12 – 7

A very bad result in a game we could have and should have won. As predicted, they played a drop on our pit. Although we started badly and found ourselves trailing by 2 goals, it was a close game and seemed it could go either way. If I remember right, we were 1 goal down getting in the 4^th quarter, but then lost a couple of our players with 3 majors. Lost our concentration and let the game slip out of our hands. The final 5 goal difference was formed in the last 1-2 minutes of the game, where for some reason we gave up. We should be worried about the 15 majors given against us when we only managed to get 6 for. We must decide on a game plan to follow when the opposition plays a drop, so that everyone in the team knows what to do and when to do it.

Bristol – Polytechnic: 15 -7

Not much to be said about this game. Possibly our best performance of the weekend, but still was not up to scratch. Bristol is the current title holders. A team that does not count on swimming and fast breaks to win matches but they play a set and controlled game. They have many good and experienced players, but most of the game goes through one of their guys’ hands. I think we were late to call a man-mark on him. We would still probably lose the game, but the final score could be a lot closer. There were times in the game where we played quite good, but still we have periods where we lose our concentration and make mistakes, mainly when we get tired.

Poly Purples Enter The Thameside League

jreddick — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:28:09 +0000

Poly “Purples” have entered a mens team into 1st division of the Thameside League. The fixtures have been added to the Poly calendar:

Tuesday Oct 14, 2008 at 19:45 vs Hellfins at Shell
Tuesday Oct 28, 2008 at 19:45 vs Hellfins at Shell (Knockout)
Wednesday Nov 12, 2008 at 19:00 vs Thameside vs Avondale at ULU
Monday Nov 24, 2008 at 19:00 vs Citizens at City of London School
Thursday Nov 27, 2008 at 20:00 vs Otter at ULU
Monday Dec 1, 2008 at 21:00 vs Croydon at Whitgift
Wednesday Jan 21, 2009 at 19:00 vs Croydon at ULU
Wednesday Jan 28, 2009 at 19:00 vs Citizens at ULU
Monday Feb 2, 2009 at 20:00 vs Otter at Porchester
Monday Mar 9, 2009 at 21:30 vs Avondale at Putney
Thursday Mar 19, 2009 at 20:00 vs Hellfins at ULU

These fixtures are prioritised for the UL students and will be supplemented by Poly 2nd team players. The team will be lead and managed by UL Mens Captain Jeremy Johnson.

Poly News

sjamg — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:00:58 +0000

Great news for all! National league is more or less two weeks away…

And is there a better way to welcome the start of the season than a few pre-season games? The next 10 days will be quite busy for all as we have:

A friendly game against Invicta on Sunday 24/08 at the Lido, with the men meeting at 5.45pm for Danny’s team talk. There will probably be Women’s game right after.
A Middlesex Div. 2 game against Ealing Crabs on Tuesday 26/08 at the Lido, starting at 6.45pm. It is the last game of the league.
The Middlesex Div. 1 Final against Penguin on Wednesday 27/08 at 8pm at Clissold. The women will be training at ULU this Wednesday.
A friendly game against Otter on Sunday 31/08 at the Lido. It should be a 7pm start, so we will be meeting at 5.45pm for another team talk.

It is really important everyone plays as many – if not all – games. We have the first NL weekend on 6-7/09 at Sheffield, playing against Cheltenham, Penguin and Bristol. I understand that over the last 2-3-4 seasons, it takes the team a few weekends to switch on and start playing to our potential, but by then we have already lost games and we end up fighting to stay in Division 1. With so many pre-season games scheduled this year we should be able to change that.

We have had a really good turn out on training for the last two weeks, let’s keep it up from now on. For those that were not there on Wednesday, we had 6-7 old boys training with the team at Clissold, looking in good shape. Shall I propose a Men’s vs. Old Boys friendly game at some point??

On the social aspect, some of us will be meeting this weekend. The Notting Hill Carnival is on Sunday and Monday and there is a massive Olympic Games handover party on Sunday at the Mall. Perfect opportunity for a few drinks…