Secondary and primary schools close off water polo season

Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, September 10, 2019: The Republic Bank National School Water Polo Leagues came to a formal end on Saturday, September 7, with a closing ceremony held at the St. Mary’s College Hall, Port of Spain.

This year, approximately 200 secondary school students and 100 primary school students participated in the leagues which consist of both the Republic Bank National Secondary Schools Water Polo League and the Republic Bank National Primary Schools Mini Polo League. The Leagues are highly anticipated events on the local water polo calendar and championship titles at both levels are usually fiercely contested which makes for exciting matches and invaluable learning opportunities for Leagues’ coaches and players.

The top spots in the female categories at the secondary school level were split evenly between Bishop Anstey High School and St Joseph’s Convent, Port of Spain. While Bishop Anstey took home the gold in the Junior and Senior Female categories, St Joseph’s Convent, Port of Spain scored the top spot in both the Form 1 and Under-14 categories.

St. Mary’s College was the top performing team of the Secondary School League’s male division after earning gold medals in both the Under-14 and Junior Male categories. Fatima College and Queen’s Royal College were also able to score top spots in the Form 1 and Senior Male categories respectively.

Competition in the Secondary Schools League has a reputation for being intense and this year did not disappoint with 5 of the League’s 8 final matches going to penalty shoot outs. The Mini Polo League, however, was dominated by the male and female teams of Bishop Anstey Junior and Dunross Preparatory Schools. While Bishop Anstey Junior School scored the top spot in the Junior Male, Junior Female and Club categories, Dunross Preparatory School took home the gold Senior Male and Senior Female Categories.

The school leagues are known to be starting grounds for many water polo players who go on to represent the sport at the club, university and national levels. Many of the Leagues’ current crop of athletes show this potential with several being recognised both as part of their teams and individually as either as All-Star players at the primary school level or as Most Valuable Players at the secondary school level.

Dawn Hackett, President of the Royhil Seals Water Polo Club, stressed the fact that water polo clubs, teams and competitions like the school leagues provide desperately needed opportunities to develop Trinidad and Tobago’s athletes and coaches. These sentiments were echoed by Johnason Nath, Republic Bank’s Manager – Production Support, ITMD, who said the growth shown by the players over the course of the season is exactly what the Bank set out to accomplish with its Power to Make A Difference programme which counts youth development through sport as one of its core pillars.