MAKING FINE SPLASH
Young, inexperienced side returns home with a top draw bronze medal
Buffalo City girls excel at water polo
The Buffalo City U18 girls’ water polo team put in a superb showing at the recent South African National Currie Cup water polo tournament in Johannesburg, walking away with a surprise bronze medal.
The team was chock-full of exciting, young up-and-coming talent, and were expected to use the tournament as a learning opportunity. However, some top performances led to them reaching the competition semifinals where they were knocked out, before going on to triumph in the third/fourth playoff.
“I am so proud of the girls. It was a very young team and our goal heading to the nationals was to learn, expose the kids to top-class opposition and get them playing at a higher level,” said coach Siya Guzana.
“So we didn’t go with expectations of winning the tournament, because I saw how young the side was and how tough the draw that we had was, and I knew what kind of opposition we were playing.
“So it was really awesome to watch the team do so well.
“When we got there, these girls just switched on and they just got better and better every game.”
At the tournament the team started off against the eventual champions, the powerful Gauteng A team, with them going down 17-8.
Despite the difficult start, they rebounded well to end the first day on a high with a 11-9 win over the Western Province A team.
The team then followed that up with three close games, beating Gauteng B 8-7, going down against KwaZulu-Natal A 7-5 and then defeating Gauteng C 8-7.
This put them into the semifinal playoff, where they again faced Gauteng C, this time claiming a comfortable 10-4 victory to move into the semis.
They then came up against KZN A again and put up a good fight, but went down 13-9, before ending their tournament on a high with their third 8-7 winning score at the event, and second against Gauteng B.
“Against KZN in the semis we were just unlucky. They were more physical and experienced than us and that is where we came up short,” said Guzana.
“But it really was a stunning effort from the girls and they fully deserved the medal they won.”
This team will now look to go from strength to strength in the future and continue aiming for top honours as they grow as players over the coming years.
“In the team we had one 14year-old turning 15, eight 15year-olds turning 16, two 16year-olds turning 17 and one 17-year-old turning 18,” said
Guzana.
“This team is the future of our water polo. They are brilliant, and if these girls get the right coach in the future who can nurture their talent they will go far.
“By the time they are U18 they will be top four in the country, and I believe they should medal at SA Schools, as long as they are coached correctly in the coming years.”
Two Buffalo City Ladies teams were also sent up to take part in the national event, but unfortunately did not fare as well as their younger counterparts.
When we got there these girls just switched on and they just got better and better
Siya Guzana