“Where there is great love, miracles always happen,” wrote the American writer Willa Cather, and from such great love arose … the miracle of Apollo Smyrna.

The club’s water polo section was founded in 2013, competed for the first time in 2014 (3rd national championship) and reached the final of the European competition in less than 10 years.

Behind this “miracle” is a group of “Apollonists” with knowledge of water polo and a love for a club that has its roots in Smyrna, Asia Minor. The love that was passed on to them by their grandparents who came to Greece after the catastrophe in Asia Minor. On Easter Wednesday at 7:45 p.m., the Light Brigade will play polo on the Terrace de España in the first of two LEN Challenger Cup finals.

When it became known in the water polo field in the first months of 2014 that the Afrudakis family (and in particular George and Zakhos) had created a swimming and polo department at Apollo Smyrna, perhaps even the founders themselves did not imagine the development of this department.

With… good morning, Apollon Smyrnis became the third national champion. The following year, he won the crown in the 2nd National League, and in the 2015-2016 season he reached the final stage undefeated, but the defeat of Panionios in the semi-finals prevented him from entering the “drawing rooms” of the sport. which he did in the summer of 2017.

A ‘newcomer’ team in a major division is usually keen to stay. Apollon Smyrnis was not satisfied with this and ended up in 6th place. In the 2018-2019 season in the regular season, he took third place, losing to Olympiacos and Vouliagmeni. The “light brigade” joined the “forces” of Greek water polo and in subsequent periods showed that its place was here. But what is behind this… miracle of love?

“We want to ‘produce’ players”

The seed for a polo team was planted on the Apollo football field. A “growing” athlete who served and serves the sport, Giorgos Afrudakis.

“My family is from Smyrna. My grandfather was an Apollonian. In the 1960s, he also managed amateur cinema. My father is also an Apollo fan. On my birthday, Apollo-OFI was playing. My father was at the stadium and my mother was waiting for him to come home so they could go to the hospital. I have been going to the stadium since I was one year old. I joined a group and despite being challenged by my classmates at school, I never changed. From 2000 to 2012 I did not follow her. When the club was promoted to the top division, I was again next to him. Somewhere there was an idea to activate the Apollo in other sports. The offer was made to an amateur and I offered to take over the financial part. The team started in 2014 with players from my company. In the early years, my old teammates from Vouliagmeni became more active and gave their all. For this proposal, they will be awarded the day after tomorrow, shortly before the start of the game with Terasa,” said Giorgos Afrudakis, who has associated his name with the department since 2014, on the website www.kathimerini.gr.

The Apollo launch looks like a fairy tale. But no fairy tale can have a happy ending if there is no good wizard in it. And Apollo found this magician, according to the old international pole, in the person of Stamatis Wellis.

“From the moment of our transition to the second national team, and then the former president of the football team, a real Apollonist, worked in the department. My family and I might have had the idea, but if it wasn’t for Mr. Wellis, nothing would have been done. For the past six years, the team has consistently ranked in the top four in the Greek league,” said the Olympic polo champion.

Giorgos Afroudakis did not have time to put on the Apollo cap. From the first moment she works for him in … civilian clothes. As a conductor, he spends most of the day in the club and with his administration… his baguette leads him to success.

When we asked him what his rank in the department was, we understood that he expressed the word “Apollo”. “From day one, we wanted Apollo to show what it lacked. And we have achieved it. The pool was full, the sports fans made banners, and there were almost 100 children in our academy. It would be better if we had our own pool. Now we are hosted by the municipality of Athens. I come from the Vouliagmeni academy and I think it’s a healthy project for the team to bring players out of their academy.”

Challenge of the first participation in the European final

Apollon Smyrnis, in its short history, managed to become the fifth Greek polo team to take part in the final of a European competition. Olympiacos has played in seven finals, Vouliagmeni and Panionios in two and NO Patrons in one.

Nikos Deligiannis has been at the helm of Apollo for the past three years. As a pole vaulter, he was a teammate of Giorgos Afroudakis on the national team and his rival in the championship. However, as fellow athletes, they have achieved many successes. Now they want to add one more to this collection: the conquest of the European trophy.

“Georgos and I have the same philosophy. Together we won the title in the youth world, together we also won the trophy in the men’s world. For the first time we entered the Olympic Games with the national team in the company of Giorgos. It is great to remember this and go through life with people who love sports. Apollo has a lot of work to do. This is a child that grows every day. It fills my life,” he told us, and when we asked him about the formation of the team, he replied: “We recruited guys with ambition who wanted to take it one step further. It’s very creative and we all love it. Each of us offers his position.

The clock counts down to the first European final. Preparations are almost complete, and on Wednesday in the Serafio pool, the Light Brigade will meet with the Spanish Terrace.

“This is our biggest challenge and we are looking forward to it. We have come a very difficult way to get here. In the Greek league we are in the semi-finals, and in Europe we will play in the final of the Challenger Cup. We may be considered outsiders, but we will not play with such logic. We will go for the trophy as the finalists of the institution,” he notes.