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TENNIS
Parklands College can be very proud of the tennis teams.This year
our focus for tennis was twofold: firstly, to provide a social opportunity
for learners who just want to have a run around, hit the ball and keep
fit, and secondly to win the Premier league.
Mrs Brougham introduced a very successful social tennis session into
our timetable and these keen players, joined by some of the teachers,
continued to play throughout the year. Learners were able to book the
courts and organise their own social tennis, or they were able to attend
the lesson presented by the professional coach fromAtlantic Tennis
Academy.
We entered four teams into theWestern Province Schools’ League
and all the teams did reasonably well. Our third and fourth teams
consisted mainly of junior players who were introduced to league tennis
for the very first time. Both our boys’ and girls’ first teams played
in the Premier league and did really well, with our girls winning the
Premier league and playing against Herschel to compete for the title of
the top tennis school in theWestern Province.
“Both writing poetry and playing tennis,” says Dave Smith,“though
one takes place in solitude and the other in the presence of others,
are profoundly solitary endeavors. Both require enormous reservoirs
of personal discipline, years (decades!) of methodical practice and
repetition, and robust abilities to endure alone-ness, to sit with failure
and uncertainty, and to return to the same texts or matches again and
again, re-imagining and revising. Both require, as well, the ability to read
others’ psychologically, as well as to deal stringently with one’s own
psyche.”
1stTeam Swimming
So it is no wonder that few tennis players really
make it to the centre stage. Parklands College
has been blessed with three very exceptional
athletes, namely Katie Poluta, Chelsea Steward
and Rhys Milne who, after years of dedication and
commitment, have all been rewarded through their selection for the South
African U/18 team. We congratulate them and wish them all the best for their
futures. We would like to thank Ryan deVilliers, Ashleigh Phillips and Nicola
Matthews, our Matric players, for their commitment to tennis over many years
and wish them all the best.
WATERPOLO
Jess Hugo and Fred Davis
Enthusiasm must the defining word
forWater Polo this year. Arriving at
6:30 twice a week is always tough
for teenagers! But the players arrived
keen to swim, play and learn.
Starting any sport from scratch is never easy, but the commitment that
players have shown this year to a physically demanding game where stamina,
strength and endurance as crucial, must be commended. It is this attitude
that will continue to fuel the enthusiasm for the sport and get our boys and
girls to a competitive level.
This was the first proper year of havingWater Polo at Parklands and
all the boys were really excited because it is a new sport at the school
and not many of us had played it before.We have really good swimmers at
the school and that, combined withWater Polo skills, can lead to a deadly
combination in the pool!
Getting used to waking up at 5:30am and getting in the pool at 6:30am
for a serious training session twice a week is really not something you
would normally look forward to, but it is has been worth it in the end.The
amount of work and effort the boys put into training has been incredible
because in the beginning, training was really hard, but the more and more
we did it, it just became second nature to us!
I have a really good feeling about our future boys’Water Polo team
because we work well together as a team and we all have a good eye for
the goal - just ask the girls’ water polo team! I know that all the boys and I
are really excited to get back into pool for some hardcore training with our
greatWater Polo coach, Mr Davis.
- VitoWiechmann, Boys’Water Polo Captain
The first season of girls’ Water Polo was grueling to say the least.There
were many early morning and afternoon training sessions. Before we could
really learn what this game was about we had to get our fitness levels up to
standard. Easier said than done...
We trained hard and learnt quite quickly that Water Polo is not a sport
for ‘sissies’.The girls started to work well as a team, especially during skills
practice,as we would often have to spar one another in the pool.The dreaded
‘suicide drill’ was always well anticipated at practice – this consisted of many
lengths of swimming freestyle and underwater, while still jumping out of the
pool and running.This was done under the watchful eye of Miss de Haaf and
Miss Hugo, who never let us give up.
We are excited for the future ofWater Polo at the College, as I believe we
have some real talent in our team, just ask the boy’s water polo team. Other
schools better watch this space.
- Kelsey Gouldie, Girls’Water Polo Captain
SWIMMING
Tarryn Baines
Splashes and squeals of delight could be heard coming from
our swimming pool early in the mornings as the swimming
squad was put through their rigorous training schedule. All
the hard work and commitment was put to the test when the
squad competed and did really well in the weekly galas against
some much bigger schools than Parklands College.
Our gala squad consisted of a core group of swimmers and
a couple of individual swimmers who helped out when needed.
We are indeed very fortunate to have a few swimmers of a
very high calibre who were able
to boost our performances.We
would like to thank them for their
commitment to swimming at
the College. A sincere word of
appreciation must also go to our
swimmers who were always there
when we needed them. Their
efforts did not go unnoticed.
1stTeamTennis
