Laura stars for South West water polo team (From Bournemouth Echo)

Laura stars for South West water polo team

5:20pm Wednesday 17th February 2010 in

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FIFTEEN-year-old Laura Spence made history at the Walsall Baths near Birmingham when she became the first Dorset girl aged under 17 to represent the South West region at water polo.

Great Britain talent scouts looked on as the Christchurch and New Milton Seagulls player contributed to better-than-expected performances by the South West in the ASA Inter-Regional Girls’ Championships.

The team ended up fourth despite being unseeded beforehand. After losing 12-8 in their opening match against North West B, the South West struck back to beat national teams from Scotland and Ireland 11-4 and 12-8 respectively.

This placed them second in Group B and pitched them into the toughest possible semi-final against top seeds North West A, whose region includes the sport’s national high performance centre at Manchester and whose team included 10 current GB internationals.

The South West lost 10-0 but had already done enough to reach the third-place play-off – a thriller against the North East, which they lost 10-7.

South West coach Carrie Wallace said: “Laura’s confidence grew throughout the tournament. Her strong marking contributed to a result that was much better than we expected beforehand.”