St John’s and Saints dominate Gauteng IPT squads
St John’s College has six players in the Gauteng u19A boys’ water polo team, and St Stithians has six players in the Gauteng u19A girls’ water polo side for next month’s Inter-provincial Tournament (IPT), which takes place in Gqeberha from the 9th to the 13th of December.
The participants include the Nelson Mandela Bay team, selected from schools from the upper side of the Eastern Cape, the Buffalo City team, which chooses its players from the likes of Selborne College, Hudson Park, and Stirling High School, the KwaZulu-Natal teams, and Western Province.
Based on the results produced by Gauteng’s schools during the course of the season, the boys will go into the IPT as underdogs. That label, of course, often serves as strong motivation for a team to outperform expectations.
The squad is a combination of players from St David’s Marist Inanda, St John’s College, King Edward VII, Jeppe High School for Boys, and St Stithians College. They’ll need to gel from the get-go, operate as a unit, and limit some of the errors that have been evident at times, if they’re to challenge outfits like KZN and Western Province.
The Gauteng side, though, can draw inspiration from their St John’s College boys, who excelled at the Saints Invitational this past weekend. The reached the final and pushed SACS all the way before going down by a narrow 6-7 margin. It was their only loss of the event.
The B Team has a more diverse make-up, with players from St Benedict’s and Reddam House Helderfontein also coming into the frame.
While the Gauteng boys’ team might not be among the favourites, the girls’ side is expected to be a strong title challenger. It’s made up of in-form players, with a number of them coming off of very impressive performances at the Saints Invitational.
Roedean School, which finished in silver medal position, and beat the eventual champions, Herschel, in the group stages, has three players – Michaela Boaventura, Francesca de Villiers, and Mia Loizides – on the team, and all three shone at the tournament, which ended on Sunday.
Loizides and De Villiers were included in the All-Star team, and Loizides, who has the talent to open up any defence, was also named the best attacker of the competition.
The Gauteng u19A line-up, apart from the Roedean and St Stithians reps, also features Ruby Carlson and Kara Wicht from St Dominic’s, and Georgia Cope from Crawford Lonehill.
Apart from more representatives from Roedean and St Dominic’s, the B team further includes players from St Mary’s Waverley and Steyn City.
TEAMS
Girls
U19A
Michaela Boaventura (Roedean), Ruby Carlson (St Dominic’s), Georgia Cope (Crawford Lonehill), Charlotte Crick (St Stithians), Francesca de Villiers (Roedean), Georgia Eccles (St Stithians), Lauren Fox (St Stithians), Mia Loizides (Roedean), Liyakhanya Ndamane (St Stithians), Jenna Penney (St Stithians), Gina Sguazzin (St Stithians), Kara Wicht (St Dominic’s).
U19B
Jessica Black (St Mary’s School), Humairaa Bodiat (Roedean), Amy Harmzen (St Dominic’s), Morgan Harrison (St Dominic’s), Amy Mather (Crawford Lonehill), Emma Morley (St Mary’s), Cecilia Petersen (Roedean), Tatum Rogers (Steyn City), Amy Smith (St Mary’s), Amy Stubbs (Roedean), Ziyanda Tshabalala (Roedean), Emma van Rensburg (Roedean).
Management:
Etienne le Roux (Head Coach)
Jarred Appelgryn (Coach)
Kyla Moolman (Coach)
Nicola MacLeod (Coach)
Leila Fernandes (Manager)
Boys
U19A
Anton Arwidi (St David’s), Connor Flinn (Jeppe Boys), Tristan Grimett (St David’s) Tanner Kleynhans (St Stithians), Samuel Lister (St Stithians), Karabo Mamaregane (King Edward VIl), Taeg Mosehla (St John’s), Nicholas Pearce (St John’s), Leonardo Pereira (St John’s), Greg Pryce (St John’s), Ross Rovelli (St John’s), Benjamin Scher (St Stithians), Marc Smith (St Stithians), Caleb van Loggerenberg (St John’s).
U19B
Dylan Botha (St David’s), Jason Cutler (St Benedict’s), Judah Dos Santos (King Edward VII), Samuel Ferreira (Steyn City), Braedon Hollingworth (St Stithians), Mark Hudson (St David’s), David Johnson (Jeppe Boys), Alessio Cimato (St John’s), Brogan McEwan (St Benedict’s), Ross Stuart (St David’s) Marco Turanjanin (St Stithians), Max Turanjanin (St Stithians), Jack Wilkins (King Edward VII), Zico Williams (Reddam Helderfontein).
Management:
Jon-Marc de Carvalho (Head Coach)
Masibonge Namba (Coach)
Michael Stewart (Coach)
Zahraa Bodiat (Manager)
