AS a competitor, Matthew Bedderson has appeared in six finals in his lifetime, one of which included an international event where he represented South Africa at U17 level.

As a coach, he had also helped the girls KZN U13 water polo team reach the final of an Inter-Provincial Tournament (IPT) in 2024.

All of those finals ended in second place with the teams he represented or coached narrowly missing out.

Now, however, the 26-year-old can celebrate his first gold medal at an IPT after coaching the KZN U15A girls team to first place in Johannesburg in December last year.

Bedderson, a Northwood Old Boy, was part of a successful IPT for the province which also saw the KZN U15A boys and KZN U16 boys win gold, under the guidance of Jarred Appelgryn and Scott Mantle.

Pool of talent

The KZN U15A team remained unbeaten throughout the tournament with victories over Zimbabwe A, Nelson Mandela A and Western Province A in the pool stages.

They then overcame Gauteng’s A & B teams in the quarters and semi-finals before meeting Western Province A again in the final, which they won 7-4.

“I’m immensely proud of my girls. They were outstanding in the group stages, which was a very tough group. In the final, I felt the score didn’t reflect the game. At half-time we were down 3-1 and to come back from that showed how much the team has grown. This team is extremely talented and a few of the players are in the SA U15, another three already have made it as SA Schools team U16, so their depth and strength is immense,” he said.

“I’ve coached some of the girls in the team since the U13 level and we’ve built a relationship in that time. I feel in order to succeed in the sport, the team needs to trust you and you need to trust them. At the end we have to make sure everyone is on the same page all the time. They had set the target of winning gold at this tournament and they set their collective minds to do that,” he said.

Bedderson, who is in charge of Swimming and Water Polo at Fatima Dominican Convent School, said he hopes to once again have the chance to coach another KZN team for the next IPT.

“It is very rewarding being a part of a player’s journey as a mentor and coach. Seeing the players improve is massive. As coach I also want to make sure they have better opportunities and more resources than what I had as a player,” he said.

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