Water polo players represent in Europe
Two water polo players from Roedean, Parktown, chosen as part of team representing in Europe.
Two local learners made their school community proud as they were selected to represent the country internationally.
Michaela Boaventura and Humairaa Bodiat of Roedean School in Parktown were part of the team representing South Africa in the U17 EU (European) Nations Junior Women’s Water Polo Tournament The tournament which South Africa won, took place in Brno, Czech Republic from April 29 to May 1.
Head of water polo at Roedean Anita Trninic said the competition took place every year.
Sharing when her love for water polo began, Michaela, who is in Grade 11, said when she was six, her friend invited her to try out a ‘cool’ sport. “So, I decided to try water polo as something new. Madame Trninic helped me out and introduced me to Gauteng water polo. My skills improved and I learnt the meaning of teamwork outside the school scenario.”
Adding to that, Humairaa, who is in Grade 10, said while in Grade 5, she saw her sister playing water polo and she decided to join in. “It was difficult at first and I was very nervous but Madame Trninic helped me with the challenges and now I am more courageous than before.”
Upon learning they had been selected for their country, Michaela said she was overjoyed and the first thing she did was look for Humaira’s name because ‘the two of us are like a formidable team’.
“I was nervous because I had never had that experience before. I knew that we were selected for a reason and we wouldn’t have been if we were not up to standard.”
Humaira added, “Michaela and I have a handshake we do and so when we had both seen our names, we did that handshake.”
Trninic said she was very proud of the girls as they had grown every season in skills and character. She said, however, that funding was needed for sports. “The biggest challenge is the fact that such ‘alien sports’ are not well financed. It’s all financed by families of participants and there is no funding in place by government. We also need water polo to be accessible to all.”
Michaela expressed that going forward it would be great to see future generations have access to, and play water polo professionally.
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