{"id":93530,"date":"2026-04-14T11:05:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T09:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=93530"},"modified":"2026-04-14T11:05:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T09:05:43","slug":"youth-championships-triumph-is-proof-of-how-far-sa-water-polo-can-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=93530","title":{"rendered":"Youth Championships triumph is proof of how far SA Water Polo can go"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cooper Haworth was in action for the SA u18 boys at the Australian Youth Championships. Photo: ProSport.photos<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The head coach of the South Africa u18A boys’ team<\/strong>, Jon-Marc de Carvalho<\/strong>, says their gold medal triumph at the recently concluded Australian Youth Water Polo Championships<\/a><\/strong> is a testament to the competitiveness of SA schools’ water polo.<\/span><\/p>\n

The South African side ended the tournament unbeaten. In the final, they defeated Sydney Northern Beaches (SNB) Breakers<\/strong> 5-4 on penalties after the clash had ended in a pulsating 10-10 draw.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Any win is pleasing. This one is especially pleasing as it’s a tournament we’ve never competed in before, and to come out on top really shows the talent we have in SA,” coach DeCarvalho told SuperSport Schools Plus<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

South Africa produced entertaining water polo throughout the event, scoring 36 goals as they placed second in their group.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the cross-pool playoff matches, they thumped the Mantas Blues<\/strong> 19-7, then convincingly beat the Polo Bears<\/strong> 21-6 and the Hunter Hurricanes<\/strong> 13-4.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the last four, they edged the Melville Sharks<\/strong> in a shootout to secure a place in the final.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the side’s dominant results, De Carvalho admitted it was tough getting the combinations right, as he had a star-studded squad from which to pick.<\/span><\/p>\n

“<\/span><\/strong>Getting the right combinations was probably the hardest part with this team,” he reckoned.<\/span><\/p>\n

“With such limited time together as a unit, the training camps and the first few games were used to work out those combinations.<\/span><\/p>\n

“In the end, we went with as many provincial combos as we could, so that the guys were as comfortable as possible with the teammate next to them.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Certain positions, we simply rotated each game, but others ended up being set combinations.”<\/span><\/p>\n

It was South Africa’s debut appearance at the Australian tournament, with the side being selected after the conclusion of last year\u2019s SWPSA Inter-Provincial Tournament <\/strong>in Johannesburg.<\/span><\/p>\n

An Australian side from Brisbane, the Aussie Crocs<\/a><\/strong>, participated in the South African event for a second successive year. They were impressive, playing a high-tempo game, which put teams under pressure, and all those qualities gave the SA provincial sides a taste of what to expect Down Under.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Michael Mafunda shared goalkeeping duties in the SA u18 side with Dylan Wiggle. Photo: ProSport.photos<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The level of polo was at a really high level [in Australia]. The top teams were well-drilled and particularly fast transitioning from defence into attack,” De Carvalho said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“That was our biggest challenge at this tournament. All the teams here had played together for years, and we were a jigsaw puzzle, a put-together team, with little time together. <\/span><\/p>\n

“What we did have was a lot of ‘gees’ and determination, which allowed us to come back and briefly move ahead in our two toughest games, the semi and final.<\/span><\/p>\n

“So, the pressure was certainly put on us, but we came back every time. This can only be done with strong belief and good preparation.”<\/p>\n

While the u18 boys’ side won gold in the A-division, the u16 girls’ team took home silver, and the u16 boys also dominated their division, winning it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those results, according to coach<\/span> De Carvalho, are proof that South Africa can compete with the best in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

“<\/span><\/strong>This is huge for SA ‘polo,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It proves that we are right up there with players in the top 10 nations in the world, while at the school level.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We then, unfortunately, drop off when we transition to university and senior levels. It’s something we need to improve upon. <\/span><\/p>\n

“The system in Australia, with a lot of their clubs associated with their universities, gives them a clear pathway and transition to the highest levels of water polo. They also have a well-set-up national league, so the continuity and development thrive.”<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The head coach of the South Africa u18A boys’ team, Jon-Marc de Carvalho, says their gold medal triumph at the recently concluded Australian Youth Water Polo Championships is a testament to the competitiveness of SA schools’ water polo. The South African side ended the tournament unbeaten. In the final, they defeated Sydney Northern Beaches (SNB) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":93531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/93531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}