Formation & Early Years: The Exeter Otters were formed in 1980 by ex-serviceman Geoff Green. He invited players such as Warren Duthie, Tony Mack, Keith Bunch & Kevin Clark to join at this time. Initially the players trained and played in friendly matches and tournaments. Then players such as Paul Bounden, Stuart Riggs & Dave Waters joined in time for the start of the 1984/85 season, which was the Otters first ever season in the league, and surprised everyone by winning all of their league matches that season. A couple of years later they were joined by Tony Fortune & Darron Evans, and the line up of Green, Mack, Duthie, Bunch, Bounden, Clark, Fortune & Evans became the mainstay of the team for around 10 years. Present Day & Future: After residing in Division's One and Two for most of the clubs 30 year history, the Otters broke new ground in 2015 by gaining promotion to the GBWBA Premier League, for the first time. Despite lacking the tools and resources that some of their Premier League opponents had at their disposal, the Exeter based club still managed two seasons at the highest club level in the UK. 2017 will mark the return to Division One for the Otters, where the aim will be to gain promotion once again. Alongside this, the club will be entering a second team into the GBWBA league setup. This will be the first time Exeter has entered a second team, which will consist almost in entirely of Otters junior players. Retired Players: Long standing member; Tony Mack hung up his jersey at the end of the 2016-17 season after 30+ seasons of service. Tony still trains with the club most weeks and is still able to take some of the younger players to school on court. The 2017-18 season marked the end of an era for Exeter, as club co-founder; Paul Bounden played his final game for the club. Paul ran the club on and off court for a number of years, making sure the Otters never ceased to exist. His #10 jersey was retired and handed to him at the end of the season, as a small thank you for his 30+ years with the club. Lee Hourd joined Paul in retirement at the end of the 2017-18 season. Having joined the club many years ago, Lee held the chairman position and took on a large role in the clubs fundraising each year. Without his dedication to the team, the Otters would not be in the position they are today. |
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Part of the club rebrand in 2017 saw a new club logo introduced
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