The closing cocktail party and prize-giving of the Old Mutual Roedean School Prestige Cup took place on 22 February at the school in Parktown.
The Prestige Cup which aims to create a unique social responsibility opportunity for a partnership between Old Mutual and a group of schools also intends to develop skills in swimming and water polo especially for children from under-resourced environments through the Learn to Swim programme. Water polo captain at Roedean School, Boati Motau kicked off proceedings and facilitated the speeches.
The executive head at Roedean School, Fiona Rogers said taking into consideration the recent drownings of young learners, the Learn to Swim programme was a critical one which could save lives. “I have no doubt that the water polo coaches who have been involved in this programme have enjoyed the interaction with the learners from the programme. A very big thank you to Old Mutual who have sponsored the programme since inception in 2011. Their generosity is greatly appreciated as it has made this tournament and the Learn to Swim programme possible.”
Rogers went on to thank all the key players who contributed.
Strategic relationship manager at Old Mutual Wealth group, Charn Swart said as someone who only learnt to swim later in life, the programme was close to his heart. “What makes this event unique is the fact that the competition is not just aimed at winning and success but about community service. There have been 5 000 children in the programme in the past nine years.”
Swart added that the fact that the prize money received by top three schools is donated to their partnership schools to further their Learn to Swim programmes is another reason the group gave the funds where they are needed most.
The schools were divided into two groups with the initial round-robin matches being played in September last year and January this year.
The morning was dedicated to the play-offs between Group A and Group B. The first semi-final saw Crawford emerging as the victor over St Mary’s. A second semi-final followed with St Stithians beating Roedean School.
The final results were:
- First: St Stithians Girls College
- Second: Crawford College
- Third: Roedean School
- Fourth: St Mary’s School
- Fifth: St Dominic’s School and Kingsmead College
- Sixth: St Peters College and Rand Park High School
- Seventh: Parktown High School.
Want to know what’s happening in local school sports? Follow us on Twitter @RK_Gazette
Related articles:
