The water polo academy is for players who have progressed through our Monsters mini-polo or for strong swimmers who would like to try water polo. The academy is designed to prepare young players for full club membership, to take part in local and regional competitions as well as junior and regional training. Players are introduced to harder skills and game play which they then incorporate into inter club games, as well local friendlies and tournaments. Every year we enter various development tournaments as well as running our own, where players get to experience a full day of matches, in preparation for when they start competing in weekend tournaments in juniors. Many players also begin to train with the North East regional training, where they train monthly with players from other local clubs. Once they reach the right standard, players trial at juniors by completing a transition period between the two sections. Many of our players have gone on to be well established juniors and seniors in the club, as well as playing, at regional, national and international level.

To join our Academy please get in contact with Gabby Williams.

Monsters started following beacon funding from the London 2012 Olympic Games. It is the only programme to receive this funding which is still operating.

The sessions run on a Sunday at Graves Leisure Centre and are differentiated into 5 different squads Mini Monsters 1,2 & 3, Monsters and Academy. We also run an academy swim session on a Monday. The children love the sessions and we receive constant positive feedback from parents, about how much the children enjoy the sessions whilst simultaneously thriving from the excitement of learning new skills. We operate using a large body of coaches and helpers as we have such young players and operate in both shallow and deep water. This helps us to provide a safe environment, demonstrate good techniques and reinforce the teaching points of each skill, both in groups and individually. Our mini monsters regularly play inter club games and tournaments, progressing to opportunities to play against other local teams as they join the top Monsters group. To join our Monsters team please get in contact with Gabby Williams.