Saints Water Polo Invitational 2019 Final Wrap

October 27, 2019 | Campus

St Stithians College has proudly played host to the Saints Water Polo Invitational 2019 which came to an end this afternoon (Sunday 27th October). Our aquatics centre has been a hive of activity over the past two festive weekends with Prep and College water polo games taking place over seven action-packed days over the two weekends. The excitement began on Friday 18th October 2019 and we thoroughly enjoyed hosting our participating schools for some great competition and camaraderie for our Junior Section of the Invitational.

Saints Water Polo Invitational Junior Section (18 - 20 October 2019)

2019 St Stithians Junior GIRLS Water Polo Invitational Tournament Final Placings:

1- Reddam (Cape Town)
2- Roedean
3- Herschel (Cape Town)
4- St Dominic’s
5- Sun Valley (Cape Town)
6- Durban Girls College
7- Water Warriors
8- Kingsmead
9- St Mary’s Kloof (KZN)
10- Chisipite (Zimbabwe)
11- St Mary’s Waverley
12- Reddam Invitation
13- Helenic (Zimbabwe)
14- Invitation Team
15- Maris Sella (Durban)
16- Crawford Schools

2019 St Stithians Junior BOYS Water Polo Invitational Tournament Final Placings:

1- St David’s Marist Inanda
2- St Stithians Boys' Prep
3- Tridents Invitation
4- St John’s
5- Grey (Bloemfontein)
6- Highbury (KZN)
7- St Peter’s
8- Gauteng Colts
9- St Benedict’s
10- Eastern Gauteng Invitation
11- Helenic (Zimbabwe)
12- Reddam Invitation
13- The Ridge
14- St Stithians (B)
15- Crawford Schools
16- St Benedict’s (B)

Saints Water Polo Invitational Senior Section (24 - 27 October 2019)

Our 26th Saints Water Polo Invitational took place over this past half term weekend (Thursday 24th - Sunday 27th Ocotber) and was an awesome celebration of water polo action. There were many tightly contested games, resulting in an inspiring spectacle. We congratulate #OneAndAll who participated, special congratulations to our St Stithians Girls' College team for winning the girls' section and our Boys' College team for placing 5th. Special mention must also go to Reddam House Constantia who won the Boys' Senior Invitational and took silver in the Girls' Senior Invitational. The full results are below:

2019 U19 Girls Saints Invitational Final Placings:

1. St Stithians Girls’ College
2. Reddam Constantia (Cape Town)
3. Clarendon (East London)
4. Roedean
5. Kingsmead
6. Durban Girls College
7. St Dominics
8. Crawford Lonehill
9. Stirling (East London)
10. St Peter’s College
11. Chisipite (Zimbabwe)
12. Pearson (Port Elizabeth)
13. Kingswood (Grahamstown)
14. St Mary’s Waverley
15. St Anne’s (KZN)
16. DSG (Grahamstown)
17. St Mary’s Kloof (KZN)
18. Rand Park
19. Pretoria Girls’ High School
20. Fourways

2019 U19 Boys Saints Invitational 2019 Final Placings:

1. Reddam Constantia (Cape Town)
2. SACS (Cape Town)
3. Bishops (Cape Town)
4. Clifton (Durban)
5. St Stithians Boys’ College
6. Rondebosch (Cape Town)
7. St John’s College
8. St Andrew’s (Grahamstown)
9. St David’s Marist Inanda
10. KES
11. Hilton (KZN)
12. Kingswood (Grahamstown)
13. St Benedict’s
14. DHS (Durban)
15. Pretoria Boys High School
16. Michaelhouse (KZN)
17. Jeppe Boys
18. Grey College (Bloemfontein)
19. St Albans (Pretoria)
20. Parktown

We thank everyone who came along to enjoy the Invitational matches which included participating teams drawn from schools in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape, the Eastern Cape and Zimbabwe. We extend a warm word of thanks to our sponsors and vendors, without whom this tournament would not happen. Special thanks to Gourmet Food Services who supplied meals for all 700 of our participants over the two weekends, and for the additional meals provided to our guests and visitors, offering an extensive range of deliciious options. To Lemonlicious, who not only kept our players and visitors hydrated with thier delicious range of refreshing drinks, but also sponsored shirts for both our players and our officials. It was wonderful to have this fabulous new sponsor on board for 2019.

Our Diners Club/OSA Hospitality Zone was once again a huge success and we thank Callum Ford and the team at the Old Stithian Association for this. Diners Club once again brought their Young Winemaker of the Year, this year it was Rudger van Wyk, for a special wine tasting event on Saturday. The wine tasting was free, but requested a voluntary donation to chosen charity, Hearts of Hope - thank you to One and All that supported this worthy undertaking. The Incredible Connection Chill Zone was a great place for our players to congregate, watch some rugby and catch a game of PlayStation or XBoxLive with their friends - thank you to Incredible Connection and your partners for providing this wonderful space this year as well as for the Incredible Connection vouchers that were gifted to our winning teams and our Invitational All-Star teams.

To all of our vendors in our Activation Zone, thank you for bringing your fantastic products to our Invitational and for adding to the vibe of our space. To Amici and Cupped Coffee, thank you for providing our guests with sustenance and refreshment. To Turbo, Funkita, PoolPillowz, ILoveBoobies, Blistex and Anita, it was great to have you with us and we hope that you had a great invitational.

We thank our physios, Michelle King Physiotherapy, Special Ops 99 for the medical and security support, Servest for cleaning services and BD Pool Services for keeping the pools spotless throughout the two weekends, in spite of challenging weather.

Thank you to the Tournament Directors, Natasha Panzera and Bruno Fernandes for their tireless efforts in running all aspects of the invitational along with Nicky White, Assistant Sports Director for the Girls' College and Richard Little, Director of the St Stithians Aquatics Centre. A tournament like this relies heavily on its officials and over the two weekends, our tournament officials, table staff and managers have done a great job - we thank them all.

Thank you to our events team, Barbara Beauchamp and Olga Carr for driving the events elements of the Invitational to ensure the best possible guest experience for our visiting teams and guests. Thanks to Official Photographer, Debbi Adcock for the awesome images, to order photographs from the event, please contact her on 083 408 1898.

Special thanks to our Chair of the Saints Water Polo Committee, Penny Varrie and her team, Claire Sguazzin and Michelle Wedderburn for their invaluable assistance in putting this event together along with many of our other incredible committee parents and volunteers.

To our Water Polo MIC's, Pierre Le Roux (Girls' College), Mark de Buys (Boys' Prep) and Justin McDougall (Boys' College) - thank you to you and to your support staff. Thank you to our Heads of School, Jakes Fredericks (Boys' Prep), Dr Sally James (Girls' College) and David du Toit (Boys' College) and our to our Head of Advancement, Alistair Stewart and Head of Sport for the Boys' College and Prep, Adrian Carter and Rodwyn Isaacs for their presence and support throughout the two weekends. Special thanks to BD Pool Services and their team for keeping the pools in tip top shape all weekend, to Servest for providing the cleaning services and to Special Ops 99 for the medical and security support. Thank you to all of our other St Stithians support staff who have assisted and supported.

Thank you to MyComLink for the coverage over both weekends, for keeping our out of town parents and interested parties in the loop for all seven playing days. Thank you also to School Sport Live for the streaming of our two finals, giving supporters in Cape Town the opportunity to watch their players in action.

Our Water Polo Invitational 2019 lived up to its promise of being one of the best yet, celebrating 26 years of water polo excellence.

For those that joined us, thank you for being a part of this year's Saints Water Polo Invitational. We look forward to welcoming you back next year!