Hudson ends the season on a high after claiming Clarendon Stayers title
The Hudson Park girl’s first team water polo side ended their season in top fashion over the past weekend when they claimed top honours at the annual Clarendon Stayers Festival in East London.
Hudson defeated Gqeberha’s Pearson 10-7 in the final after edging out the hosts in a penalty shootout in the semifinal.
Their journey to the title match was characterized by grit, resilience, and the desire to overcome setbacks in the pool stages.
In the five group matches played, coach Josh Allderman’s side picked up two wins against Cape Town’s St Cyprian’s School 10-8, and an Invitational team 15-6.
Along the way, they suffered defeats to Clarendon Girls’ 5-9, the Pearson as mentioned above 8-10, and Collegiate Girls’ High 5-10.
However, they had already done enough to secure themselves a spot in the final four where they came up against the hosts and ultimately dethroned them to take a 9-8 win in a match that went to penalty shootouts.
That win for coach Allderman’s team set them up for a showdown against Pearson. In the final, Hudson remained composed, used their opportunities, and claimed the win to overturn their seventh-place finish from last year’s tournament.
Forward, Kara Batting was awarded the attacker of the tournament after inspiring her side throughout the tournament.
Speaking to SuperSport Schools Plus after the tournament, Allderman praised his team’s performance and believes the win will put them in good stead heading into the new season in 2025.
“Winning the Clarendon Stayers tournament was a goal the team had set out for themselves at the beginning of the term,” he said.
“It was a very special win for the girls, getting their first win as a team at first team level, at a local tournament with the support of the school, family, and friends.
“It meant a lot to the girls and was great to see the belief it instilled in them. They worked so hard for it, and when it counted, they played some of their best Polo, we couldn’t be prouder of their effort and their achievement.”
Heading into the tournament, Hudson had taken part in the National Co-Ed water polo tournament a week before.
There, they blazed through the pool stages, remained unbeaten, and recorded big wins against Crawford Lonehill and St. Peters College.
They were, however, eliminated in the quarterfinals after losing to Pearson, and finished the tournament ranked in seventh place.
” We couldn’t complain about the preparation leading up to the tournament as we had the Co-Ed tournament before and were playing in competitive matches,” the coach continued.
“In terms of at the tournament, there were no real challenges to note, other than inconsistency and not being able to string together a full match performance.”
The current Hudson Park team is a fairly young one with promising players coming into the fold and raising their hands ahead of the highly anticipated season in 2025.
For now, it’s the end of the season for some players, while three members of the team, Erin Batting, Rania Khan, and Mia Smith will represent Buffalo City at this year’s Inter-Provincial Tournament in East London in December.
“As a school, we are looking forward to how they perform on the National stage and are excited for them to learn and grow through their respective IPT coaches,” Allderman added.
“From a Hudson point of view, it is unfortunate we don’t have another tournament to work towards and build on the success from this past weekend, but we do have a great standard to work from and to build on for the season that kicks off early next year,” he ended.
