The North East U16 Open Steelers squad delivered a courageous and heart warming performance in Division 1 of the recent Inter-Regional Championships, showcasing resilience in the face of successive and agonisingly close defeats on Day 1 of the tournament.
Game 1 against North West Tigers was, in effect, a replay of the Final played between both teams in 2024, where North West won by a goal ‘on the bell’. The friendly rivalry between the two Northern teams continued, however this year North West won the exciting match by two goals, going on to robustly defend their 2024 title over the course of the weekend.
Game 2 on day 1against East was equally challenging, with East winning by a single goal. With our heads a little lower the next morning, we lost Game 3 by an ‘unhealthy margin’.
Following some fresh air, a happy-birthday singalong and some reflection, our squad regained their ‘steel’ and played Game 4 against London Sharks in what could best be described as refusing to surrender. Despite our earlier disappointment, our squad started strongly and retained their composure throughout the game, winning against a capable and well-run London outfit by a ‘healthy margin’.
We are exceptionally proud of all our players.
Leadership and Individual Accolades
The team was capably led by Harry Peters (captain) and Freddie Blore (vice-captain), with Freddie also earning the Most Valuable Player award.
The remainder of the squad consisted of Dylan Moss, Jamie Aspinall, Harry Cheetham, Adam James Ellis, Leyton Watson, Sam Edwards, Toby Mitchell, Henry Trueman, Fynn Worthington, Lucas Wright, Elias Jones and Ernesto Garcia.
Extremely positive performances were displayed by all team members including our debutants. Special mentions go to Lucas Wright for a string of impressive saves in goal (including scoring a full-field length goal on the bell from our goal-line) as well as Adam James Ellis, Ernesto Garcia, Sam Edwards and Jamie Aspinall who stood-out significantly in our performance statistics.
Gratitude and Support
A special thank you goes to Graham Trueman (Assistant Coach), Paul Worthington (Team Manager) and the rest of our team who have supported our squad to this point (Vicky Alderson, North East Open Team Manager and coaches Carl and Luke Smith, Sean and Ben Alderson, Paul Worthington, Dom Epton, Kyle Alderson and former Head Coach Matt Graves).
Also worthy of a big thank you was our referee for the tournament, Mertan Sacmacioglu.
Thanks also to Swim England North East Region for their ongoing financial and leadership support as well as the parents, grandparents and supporters for their regular and tireless miles around our large North East Region!
Grant Peters
North East Open Head Coach
The full results from the U16 Open Inter-Regional Championships 2026 can be found here: Live Water Polo U16 Open Inter-Regional Championships 2026 – Swim England Water Polo Hub
