Joe has had an outstanding year, captaining Portobello U19s to a Scottish Cup victory, securing a bronze medal at the BMC tournament, and achieving a second-place finish in the U19 Scottish National League. He has represented Portobello’s men’s team in the Scottish National League, the Scottish Cup, and the British Water Polo League. Joe’s contribution to the men’s team cannot be overstated. He was the top goal scorer in the most recent Scottish Cup final, helping Portobello secure the overall tournament victory.
He was also a key player in the men’s National League side that went on to win the league title. In the British league campaign, which has just concluded, Joe once again proved pivotal to the team’s performance – finishing as the top goal scorer in Division 2 and the second top goal scorer in Champ 1 with 34 goals.
Overall, his performances played a major role in helping Portobello achieve their ranking as the 11th best team in Britain. At an international level, Joe has represented Scotland U18s at the EU Nations tournament in Brno, where the team finished 4th overall – the highest placing for a Scottish junior team in over 10 years. He has also represented the Scotland men’s team at an invitational tournament in Cheltenham and taken part in a training weekend with Wales.
Joe was selected last year to represent GBR at the U18 European qualifiers. He has since followed this up with selection for the U20s team and has also been named in the 14-man GBR squad for the 2026 World Cup.
Whilst each of these achievements alone speaks to the standard of athlete Joe is, as well as his dedication to the sport, the time and effort he invests in supporting his teammates and younger players to develop their playing ability cannot be overlooked.
Finally, at the time of writing this nomination, Joe is currently training in Tenerife with CN Echeyde, who compete in the Spanish Men’s First Division, with the aim of securing a place to train and play with the team next season.
Richie Metcalfe – Waterpolo convenor