'I’m Sonal Ladha and at the age of 14, I’m a national winner and 2-time English school champion in water polo. I realise that water polo isn’t the most well-known or popular sport in the world, but it has become a huge passion of mine and I’m excited to share the story of how I got here!
'It all started with swimming. Since the age of 3, I was always at home in the water, initially splashing around for fun with my parents and big sister, Karishma, and progressing into competitive swimming over the years. Once I started secondary school, I underwent trials for the Bolton School swimming team and got in. It was around half-way through Year 7 when I was first introduced to water polo and started training with my school for the rest of Year 7. Unfortunately, Covid meant that after-school sports were restricted. In Year 8, the team trained hard on Friday mornings before school. As well as school training, I started to attend a club for some extra training. I was training 3 times a week for water polo and still kept up with my competitive swimming too. Close to the end of Year 8, I competed in the Under 13 English Schools’ Swimming Association (ESSA), unfortunately, our team finished 3rd despite our hardest efforts. The team knew that although we tried our best we had to push more next year. Currently, I am in Year 9 and still train 3 times a week (twice with my club and once with school) and keep up with my swimming.
'All my training with my club had paid off as I was selected to play in the Under 15 category at National Age Group Championships (NAGs). I was selected to play as a goalkeeper; this isn’t my preferred position but I was happy to play in any position to help my team. The first game went great as the final result was a 19:0 win, and although there were some close results we won every group game, with some outstanding saves from me. The club finished top of the group which placed us in the finals. We won the finals 13:4 which made it my first gold medal for water polo.
'Recently I was selected to play for my school’s Under 15 team. Competing for the Under 15 ESSA trophy, the team was confident with all the work we had put in this year to win. We made it to the finals where it was a close game which finished with a draw. The game went into penalties, but after some nail-biting minutes the team was victorious.
'I was also selected to play in the Under 18 ESSA tournament, where the team made it to the final and won.
'In addition to training with my club and school, I trialled to join a national training centre which allowed me to play against other experienced players all over England. I was successful in getting into the centre and started being coached by GB players who are helping me improve my skills at centre-back (my preferred position). I was selected to compete against the other teams in Coventry where, over 2 days, we trained and competed. Competing in Coventry meant that my family from London was able to support me and experience water polo for the first time. My Nani, Hiru Varsani, got really involved in telling the opposing players to stop being aggressive with me! As well as all of these training sessions I was privileged enough to fly to Malta with my school to play matches against their national Under 15 girls’ team and train in amazing outdoor facilities with a view of the ocean from the pool.
'My club qualified to compete in the U17 NAGs finals weekend, which took place in Sunderland at the beginning of May. On the Saturday, we won the semifinals 19:9, and were then through to the finals. On the Sunday it was our chance to win the title but unfortunately in a close encounter we lost 20:17 this meant we didn’t achieve the gold that we wanted, but it was still a proud moment for our young team to achieve a silver medal. This was the most heartbreaking loss that I have experienced, especially because my team were dominating until the end of the 3rd quarter. The team were all devastated but we congratulated the opponents, and wished them well. In the team talk after the match, a team mate lifted our spirits and said that we would keep training hard and we can claim the gold next year.
'I would definitely recommend this sport to those who are confident swimmers as there are many opportunities to do it. A student from the school I attend has had the opportunity to do a scholarship in America for water polo, where they can do the sport that they love and get an education too. I have had many amazing and memorable experiences in the past couple of years since I have done water polo. I have become more confident, resilient and determined ever since I started this sport and my team skills have improved so much too. I never could’ve imagined where this journey would take me when I attended my first trial and I’m excited for what’s ahead!'
