The St Stithians Girls’ College water polo team ended a stellar season with two consecutive national wins.
The team was victorious at a tournament at Clarendon High School for Girls in East London and at the Saints Water Polo Invitational in Gauteng.
At Clarendon, the girls played Stirling High School in the final and won on penalties. Stirling is currently the number one ranked school in girls’ water polo.
The team beat Hudson Park 6–0, Diocesan School for Girls (DSG) 10–0, Pearson Invitational 10–2, Clarendon 3–0 in the pool playoffs, then went on to play Collegiate Girls High School in the quarter-finals winning that game 7–0. A repeat performance in the semis against DSG, winning 10–0, saw them progress to the finals where they played Stirling.
The Stirling side, who have five girls in South African teams at present, ensured that the game was very tough. The two teams were level at 4–4 at the end of the allotted time and proceeded to a penalty shootout, which Saints won. Zánne Smit, who is in Grade 9 at Saints, was named Goalkeeper of the Tournament and the new captain, Bianca Prinsloo, was named the Best Attacker.
The team then spent the following weekend participating in the Saints Water Polo Invitational where they won again. A total of 58 teams participated in 199 action-packed water polo games. The event saw teams from Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and Zimbabwe come together to play for the opportunity to be named the tournament winners in their age group.
The Saints girls won all their matches over the four days, beating St Mary’s School, Waverley, 7–1 in the semi-finals and beating Pearson High School 6–1 in the final.
“St Stithians Girls’ College has enjoyed an exciting term of sport with our water polo team leading the way in terms of great results,” said Natasha Panzera, director of sport at the girls’ college.
Pierre le Roux, master-in-charge of water polo at the girls’ college and captain of the South African men’s national water polo team said, “Winning a national tournament is a big task for any team, and doing it two weeks in succession is an unbelievable achievement. I am so proud of what they have achieved this year and I look forward to seeing more great water polo from them in the coming season.”
The final standings at the Clarendon tournament were:
1. St Stithians Girls’ College
2. Stirling High
3. Clarendon High School for Girls
Details: St Stithians College, www.stithian.com
