The Scotland under-16 boys water polo squad, with six players from Edinburgh clubs, are travelling to LLoret de Mar, Spain, to compete in the BWMF Cup for four days, starting 28 August.
The Scots will come up against some of Europe’s top players across 21 teams including from water polo powerhouses Croatia, Germany Italy and the host country.
The Scottish boys begin their Group D campaign on Thursday evening against a BWMF Invitational Squad picked from players across Spain. Further group games follow on Friday and Saturday against Spanish teams Sabadell and Barcelona, as well as Italian giants Olympique Roma. The tournament then progresses to the play-off and finals stages over Saturday and Sunday.
The 15 strong Scots squad have been working together since early January with five clubs represented.
Team manager Peter Wilson said: “What an amazing opportunity the boys have to compete against some very talented teams. For most of the squad this will be the first time they have competed in an international tournament. It is probably the most highly anticipated event in the calendar for the squad and the excitement has been building alongside the hard work for several weeks.”
Head coach Fraser Macnair added: “I think it will be an excellent learning experience for this squad with it being on the younger side with a large amount of players still eligible to play in the same tournament next year. I believe the squad will learn lots playing against a much higher standard of water polo than what they are used to and I am looking forward to seeing how they combat this.”
Scotland squad: Frank Bacik, George Bickerton, Andrew Coulson, Brady Shaw (all Menzieshill), Charlie Grey, Zachary Johnstone, Bram Stenhouse, Andrey Teplechuk (all Warrender), Bryn MacArthur and John Wilson (both Dunfermline), Josh Ruddy, Fraser Vandermeulen, Elliott Duncanson (all Stirling), Dominic Moodie, Alexander Scott-Watson (both Portobello).
All games are being streamed live on YouTube @BWMF286 and progress can be followed via Instagram.
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