BRADFORD’S teenage sensation, Amelia Brooksbank is continuing to make a name for herself in the sport of water polo.

Brooksbank, along with her close friend Lilly Pryce, daughter of Bradford Bulls legend, Leon, have gone from strength to strength at their club, the City of Manchester Comets, and have most recently been crowned Division Two champions in the Women’s British Water Polo League.

Playing seven league fixtures in total against the likes of Exeter, Rotherham Metro, Liverpool Liver Birds, Tyldesley, Mid Sussex Marlins, City of Bristol and Otter Lutra, Manchester came out on top having won five out of their seven league fixtures, edging Exter by one point to the title.

Brooksbank, who played a key role in central defence for her team, will now compete in the next phase of play which commences after the new year.

Of course, claiming the Division Two title means that Brooksbank and her teammates will be battling out in Division One of the Women’s British Water Polo League next season.

Not only that, the talented water polo star from Bradford has also been selected to represent GB again, this time for the U19’s in the Senior Women’s EU Nations tournament in Brno, Czech from 30 November to 3 December 2023.  This is following on from her success in the summer where she represented and captained GB U17’s in the European Championships in Turkey alongside her best friend, Pryce.

Speaking to the European Aquatics governing body LEN after the tournament in the summer, Brooksbank said: “I’m just super proud of how far we’ve all come and I’m really, really proud of all the girls and how well we’ve played over this tournament.

“We’ve been as a squad for four years now, so it’s been a long journey. We’ve been through some highs, some lows, but we’ve all stuck together, and it really showed in that match at the end.

“Today was emotional as it’s our last game as a squad so it was really good to finish on a win.”

Brooksbank and Pryce both took up water polo when they joined St Bede's and St Joseph’s Catholic College at 11-years-old.

Throughout their time at school, they participated in the English Schools Swimming Association (ESSA) water polo competition, often competing against teams from private schools.

Their biggest success at school was finishing as the second-best team in the country, while also being selected to represent English Schools in a tournament in Hungary in October 2022.

Despite living in Bradford, both athletes travel between two and three times a week to Manchester to attend their club training sessions with the City of Manchester (CoM) Water Polo Club.

Natalie Brooksbank, parent of Amelia, commented: “I’m so proud of Amelia and the rest of the girls for their achievements. They’ve accomplished a lot already despite being relatively young.

“As a parent, it’s an amazing feeling seeing your daughter represent Team GB and I look to support the girls in every way. Hopefully then can continue shining and representing Bradford on the biggest stages.”