SPORT Water Polo
SENIOR WATER POLO MiC/Manager: Neil Nicholson Coach: Hamish Sullivan Team: Moe Gath (captain), Isaac Aitken, Jacob Clements, Ben Cornell, Brad Crestani, James Drury, Sam Falvey, Josh Ford, Guy Greening, Matty Hickman, Alex McEwan, Luke Moore, Gus Morrow, Jack Thelning, Tom Thyne, Bruno Vaughan The sporting prowess of College water polo players – Year 11 student Jacob Clements and Year 13 student Moe Gath, plus recent Old Boy Louis Clark – was recognised at the Canterbury Water Polo 2019 prize-giving held on Saturday 29 February. Jacob picked up the award for U14 boys Most Valuable Player, Moe gained U16 boys MVP and U18 boys Most Improved, and Louis was awarded the U21 MVP and Southern Cross Player of the Year. “It’s so cool to be recognised for all the hard work you put in,” says Moe. “I knew I was in with a chance, but there were some really good players in the team who were also in the running and equally deserving, so I was surprised and really stoked.” The senior team, led by Moe, played very well across the first two games, before coming up against the top team in Canterbury – the St Bede’s College A team. With a number of our starters away at surf life saving nationals, we struggled against St Bede’s, eventually going down 19–3. The score really didn’t reflect the game, as we took the opportunity to field some of our Year 9 and 10 players. We were looking forward to the South Island competition, but this was snatched from our grasp by the Covid-19 lockdown. It was a sad ending for players like Moe Gath and
JUNIOR WATER POLO MiC/Manger: Neil Nicholson Coaches: Isaac Aitken, Jacob Clements, Ben Cornell, Moe Gath Team: Tom Thyne (captain), James Burt, Sam Chittock, James Drury, Matthew Flint, Callum Gard, George Grace, Matty Hickman, Alex McEwan, Lachlan McVicar, George Pearse, Guy Roadley After a Canterbury competition to forget about, we entered the South Island competition with a point to prove. We played Otago Boys' High School first – and, with a superb team effort, were up 5–1 after the first quarter and managed to pull away further in the second quarter.
Ben Cornell, who have given their everything to College water polo over the last few years. Top goal scorers for the shortened season were Jacob Clements and Moe Gath. We were grateful to our new coach, New Zealand and Canterbury representative Hamish Sullivan, who upskilled the team and players in a very short period of time. Thanks to Moe Gath, Jacob Clements, Isaac Aitken and Ben Cornell for coaching the junior team in Term 4, and Craig Aitken for all his behind the scenes work as troubleshooter.
Neil Nicholson MiC Water Polo
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