The U16s Nationals Tournament is a Wrap:

What a weekend. Three Atlantis Teams competed in the U16s National Water Polo Tournament over the past weekend, 30th Sept – 4th Oct. Atlantis City was the only club in New Zealand to have 3 teams entered in the Girls’ competition which is a fantastic achievement for a brand new Club. We are also super proud that 2 of our teams finished in the top 4 in Division 1, an outstanding achievement in our first year of operation.

The Atlantis Tridents and Atlantis Aqua teams competed in the Girls' Division 1 league. The Atlantis White team competed in the Girls' Division 2 league.

Atlantis White (Div 2):  Atlantis White’s first game was vs Otago. A very close game but in the end Otago won 4-3. This proved to be quite an important result as Otago went on to come 3rd overall in Div 2. The Whites played well all tournament but were up against top regional teams from around the country. They eventually finished 7th. Thanks to our Coaches, Conrad Smith and Krista Laing, who did a great job developing the girls over the course of the weekend. Thanks also to the Team Manager, Sarah Hillman, for her support.

Atlantis Tridents (Div 1):  The Atlantis Tridents finished top of their initial Pool group before crossing over to play Canterbury. They won that game and then progressed into the group of top 4 teams in Div 1. The Tridents tracked through to the Bronze medal playoff after a narrow loss to North Harbour (3-2). They played Hibiscus Coast in the Bronze final and after a close battle in the early stages of the game they lost 6-3 finishing in 4th place overall in Div 1. Thanks to Angie Winstanley-Smith for coaching the girls and to Dan Houlker, Team Manager, for supporting the girls so well.

Atlantis Aqua (Div 1):  The Atlantis Aquas also did very well in the preliminary round finishing top of their Pool. They then crossed over to play Waikato, winning that game and progressing to the top 4 teams in Div 1 along with Atlantis Tridents. The Aqua girls played a stunning game of water polo vs Hibiscus Coast beating them to progress to the Gold/Silver playoffs. The semi final match was an amazing display of teamwork, great coaching, guts and determination. They lost to Harbour A in the final but were very proud to claim their Silver Medals. Thanks to Coach, Kat Graaf and Team Manager, Marcelle Jacskon.

We are extremely proud of all our girls and super excited to see such depth of talent across all teams in this promising group of young women.