Roedean’s Prestige Cup celebrates another impactful year
Roedean School celebrated a successful day in the pool at the Prestige Cup on Saturday and another successful year of giving back to the community through the annual water polo tournament.
In a thrilling final, Roedean held off St Stithians College, claiming a 9-6 win in a thrilling final on Saturday. While Roedean enjoyed the victory, the school explained that the true triumph of event goes far beyond the scoreboard.
Founded with a vision of addressing a critical need for water-based skills in under-resourced schools, the Prestige Cup has become one of the most meaningful water polo tournaments on the school sports calendar. It was launched with a swimming development sponsorship programme designed to bridge the gap between privilege and access in aquatic sports.
Across Gauteng, young black children, especially, remain largely underrepresented in swimming and even more so in water polo.
Roedean’s Head of Water Polo, Anita Trninic, explained more details about the event: “The tournament was designed to encourage well-resourced girls’ schools to partner with under-resourced schools, helping them develop swimming and water polo skills through mentorship, shared facilities, and guided programmes,” she said.
“The long-term goal is to create self-sustaining Learn-to-Swim programmes within each partner school. Each participating water polo school is encouraged to support its partner school in progressing towards interschool gala participation, thereby expanding the pool of potential water polo players across the province.”
The Prestige Cup Programme runs throughout the year and features two components: the Prestige Cup Water Polo Competition and the Prestige Cup Learn-to-Swim Swim-a-thon.
The season begins in February and concludes in October with the final playoffs and Swim-a-thon. The top three schools receive prize money of R30 000 for first place, R20 000 for second, and R10 000 for third, which must be donated to their partner schools to support their Learn-to-Swim initiatives in the following year.
From 2011 to 2021, Old Mutual sponsored the entire tournament, including the prize money, which had to be used exclusively to support partner schools’ swimming development programmes, which aligned with each school’s Community Service Initiative (CSI) goals.
Aquatic sports in South Africa continues to face a number of challenges, including limited access to pools, a lack of transport, and a shortage of trained swimming teachers in under-resourced communities. As a result, many children aren’t afforded an opportunity to learn to swim. That, also, limits water polo development. As the organisers noted: “Without strong young swimmers, there can be no strong young water polo players.”
In its first three years, the Prestige Cup successfully introduced swimming to 10 partner schools, whose learners would not have had access to facilities nor funding.
Now, each year concludes with the Learn-to-Swim Gala, hosted by Roedean, where young swimmers showcase their progress and get to experience an atmosphere of excitement and pride.
On Saturday, more than 70 learners, both boys and girls, participated in the gala. The impact of the Prestige Cup is further reflected in the success of its past participants in the Learn-to-Swim programme, with Natasha Katongo now training with the OJ Eagles Junior Water Polo Club, while Zamokuhle Komondela, from Houghton Primary and now at Jeppe High School for Boys, has represented the Central Gauteng provincial water polo team for five consecutive years.
Roedean coach Siya Guzana emphasised that the real success of the event lies in the lives that it changes: “Prestige is always a special tournament, not just for the competition, but for the purpose behind it,” she said.
“Historically, the bigger picture is about the Learn-to-Swim programme and giving back to the community. So, all the schools that participated in the competition are part of a Learn-to-Swim programme. Anita Trinic is passionate about learn to swim,” he told SuperSport Schools Plus.
“It is an opportunity for schools to raise awareness and give back to the community, to children who don’t have the facilities, so that is what this tournament is about, it is not about the results.
“We are more content and happier as the [swimming] event was successful because we saw children smiling. We saw kids who were afraid of the water when we started at the beginning of the year, now swimming full lengths confidently. This is more rewarding than the tournament itself, or us playing, because we feel we have made an impact and added to society. This is what we are happier about.”
The 2025 tournament saw the following school partnerships: Reddam House Bedfordview with Tokoza LTS; St Dominic’s Catholic School for Girls with Emaromeni Catholic Primary; Kingsmead College with Parkhurst Primary; Crawford International Lonehill with Witkoppen Primary; St Mary’s Waverley with HA Jack Primary; Beaulieu College with Diepsloot Primary; St Stithians Girls’ College with the Thandolwazi Math and Science Programme; and Roedean School with Johannesburg Girls’ Preparatory.
RESULTS
Reddam House Bedfordview 5–7 Roedean
St Stithians College 11–5 St Mary’s Waverley
St Dominic’s 7–8 Crawford Lonehill
Beaulieu College 14–2 Kingsmead College
Crawford Lonehill 4–11 Beaulieu College
Reddam House Bedfordview 9–8 St Mary’s Waverley
Final: Roedean 9–6 St Stithians College
Final standings
1. Roedean
2. St Stithians
3. Reddam House Bedfordview
4. St Mary’s
5. Beaulieu
6. Crawford
7. Kingsmead
8. St Dominic’s
