Water Polo Seniors was very up and down this year.

Boys

For the Seniors in Term 1, the team was doing well in the regular season and we felt we had a decent chance in the lead-up to the South Island Secondary Schools’ tournament in Dunedin. Sadly, this was cancelled because of Covid-19 and then not too long afterwards we went into lockdown. I am sure the whole team was disappointed by this ending, especially since we had Thomas Bainbridge (Y13) leaving at the end of the year. It was an enjoyable season overall and the players returning in 2021 are sure to be pumped for next season.

Water Polo Juniors in Term 4 had some challenges too, especially with the low number of players. Luckily we managed to find a few more so this meant we were able to play the season. Even though the results were not what we had hoped for, everyone enjoyed playing. The Year 9s and the other new players really enjoyed their first season of high school Water Polo and we are very confident that they will be back again next year. Sadly, we couldn't enter a team in the South Island Secondary Schools’ tournament in Christchurch at the end of November. Hopefully next year the Boys Junior team will play in the South Island Championships, as well as the Canterbury Secondary Schools’ Championships.

We are very thankful to Ben Lamb for coaching the Senior Boys’ team and to senior students, Darius Porter and Thomas Bainbridge, for coaching the Junior Boys’ team. Their expertise made us all become not only better players, but a better team overall.

Harrison Hadlee-Watts

Girls

The Junior A Girls team had a decent start to the season, putting up some good fights against some difficult teams.

As the season progressed, we became a fairly close team, which was helped by the fact most of us played together in Term 1. We then went on to compete in the Junior Girls' South Island Secondary Schools' tournament. We had some good wins against Columba College, STAC/Marlborough and Villa Maria B. We fought a close battle against Canterbury Combined for our last game of the tournament, which we unfortunately lost. Overall, the girls had a really good season and are looking forward to next year! We would like to thank our coaches, Ella Harford and Amelia MacDonald for their awesome commitment and dedication towards our team - we have learnt a lot!

And, thanks to Ms Delaney for all her help behind the scenes as the Teacher in Charge of Water Polo, taking over from Mrs Kees.

Jess Escott and Maddy Lamb