U16 Water Polo Tournament

Sixteen teams from amongst the country’s top Water Polo playing schools gathered to do battle at our annual U16 Tournament from 6-9 October.  The 150^th Anniversary Festival Committee, under the able chairmanship of Deputy Head Master, Alan Norton, had done an excellent job in laying the groundwork for the Tournament.  The Mothers’ Committee, led by Louisa Whitfield, did sterling work in drumming up sponsors of items for a “goody” bag for each contestant.  Eight teams were housed in Blackmore House and all reports suggested that they had been made comfortable and to feel at home by the duty masters and well fed by Peppers & Pans.
No event of this nature is ever without its hiccups and so it proved.  We were unable to use our walkway barrage as it is unfortunately in need of repair. Then a tent erector managed to puncture a main water pip whose function was to return filtered water to the pool.  Undaunted, Mr Norton, who worked like a Trojan throughout the tournament, and our Estate manager, Mr Mike Maree, soon had the situation under control.
Two independent referees undertook most of the officiating, ably assisted by coaches from the participating teams.  The officials table and the scoreboard were well manned by Daniel Ungerer and his keen U14 Water Polo boys, whilst Mr Skevington kept the whole thing rolling with his patter over the public address system.
The polo itself was of a high standard and the final between Clifton College and St John’s College was of a very high quality indeed.
The DHS team was ably coached by Old Boy, Aston Lawson. Aston established a very good rapport with the boys and managed to coax a good performance out of them.  Well done to Aston and the team!
A Man of the Match was selected for each game, and the tournament committee selected a Goalkeeper, Defender and Attacker of the Tournament as well as a Tournament Team.
Our sincere thanks to the following companies and people who sponsored prizes and goodies for the goody bags:
StaminoGro, Indwe Risk Services, Island Tribe, Zig Zag, Cyclone, Shotgun, Futurelife, Hill to Hill, Mr and Mrs Elliott, Coo-ee, Cedar Falls Spur, Glenwood Super Spar, Enforce
Our thanks also go to some of our Old Boys whose generous contributions ensured that new pool heaters were installed thus securing that the water was warm for the Tournament.
Final Positions:
1^st    St John’s College
2^nd   Clifton College
3^rd    Glenwood High School
4^th    Westville Boys’ High School
5^th    Selborne College
6^th    St David’s Marist, Inanda
7^th    St Stithians College
8^th    St Alban’s College
9^th    Afrikaans Hoër Seunskool (Affies)
10^th  St Benedict’s College
11^th  St Andrew’s College
12^th  Jeppe High School for Boys
13^th    Hilton College
14^th    Durban High School
15^th    KES
16^th    Parktown Boys’
DHS Results:
vs Hilton             2-6
vs St Albans        6-9
vs St Stithians    8-5
vs St Andrews    3-8
vs Hilton             2-5
vs KES                 7-3
DHS Team Members:
Caden Strőh, Mohammed Khan, Keegan Whitehurst, David Whitfield, Dylan Harris, Tre Bedderson, Andrew Kyprou, Cameron Diedericks, Connor Mack, Rogan Green, Bryson Boekhoud, Ethan Mack
A Burt
Water Polo Coach