History

Hall of Fame

Alan Vessey

Ginny Coyles

Greg Smale

Ex-National Team Athlete, British Canoe Union 'Award of Merit' Holder

Alan is a founding member of St. Alban's Canoe Club situated north of London. He has been a part of the British National teams for over 20 years and attended 17 major Championships, achieving Gold in two World Championships and in one European Championship. Playing at home he has won National League and National Championships 6x each, he also played with the Italian Serie A team C.N. Posillipo from Naples. He has since retired from playing internationally but as a National Squads Manager he still plays a huge part in the National Teams achievements.

National team athlete, British Canoe Union 'Award of Merit' Holder

Ginny is a member of the Friends of Allonby Canoe Club from Liverpool and for over 20 years has been playing canoe polo in Regional, National and International League events. She played with the Senior Women's National Team in the World Championships on 5x including the 2009 victory and in the European Championships 4x. She has played and won in the National League 14x, and the National Championships 11x! She has played and won four times with her team in the European Club Championships (2006, 2008, 2009, 2011). She played in the World Masters Games in 2009 with the team Mutineers winning the Bronze medal. Ginny was back competing with the national side at the 2018 World Championships where the Senior Women placed 2nd.

Ex-National team athlete, Chairman I.C.F. Canoe Polo Committee, 'Award of Merit' Holder

Greg started playing canoe polo as a boy scout at the age of fourteen with St. Alban's Canoe Club. He played with the Great Britain Senior Team for ten years winning around 25 International Tournaments, silver at the 1993 European Championships and a bronze at the 1994 World Championships. He coached the GB Women's Senior Team for 4 years and then the GB Men's Team (jointly with Mike Moffitt) for 4 years reaching 8 consecutive World and European Championship finals. In 2003 he became a member of the I.C.F. Canoe Polo Committee and from 2007-2013 and now 2016-to present he has held the position of Chairman of the International Committee (I.C.F. Board Member) tasked with developing polo around the world. Away from the international scene, he is a British Canoeing Board Member and a graduate of the U.K. Sport International Leadership programme.