Cape Town school hosts alternative water polo event after original festival axed

With only a week to plan, prepare and execute, Sun Valley Primary School coaches and parents hosted a “plan B” water polo event for the U13 section of the Oakhill Waterfront Chukka Festivals, which were cancelled recently.

Over two action-packed days the makeshift tournament delivered 92 games in two pools involving 23 school teams from around the country.

This came after Oakhill School in Knysna decided to cancel their event after tests showed unacceptable levels of E. coli in the water.

“I think because so many schools had banked on this being the big event of the year for a lot of their teams, it made sense that they all wanted the alternative of still providing their kids with the opportunity to play, especially after it was such a last-minute cancellation,” said Jess du Preez, head of sport at Sun Valley Primary School, who played a large role organising the new event.

Coveted festival axed

The Oakhill Waterfront Chukka Festivals are flagship, open-water water polo events that take place annually in February with separate weekends for U13, U15 and U19 players.

The festivals typically attract about 1,600 players from 70 schools and thousands of visitors, providing a major boost to the town’s tourism and local economy, according to James Cross, Oakhill’s head of school.

On 5 February, Daily Maverick reported that independent testing revealed unsafe water conditions in the Knysna estuary, where the tournament is held, and organisers were unable to secure an alternative venue that met safety standards.

Players, coaches and families were “devastated” after the cancellation.

“At Sun Valley we go on quite a few tours every year and [the Chukka festival] is like the pinnacle of their primary school careers, especially with the water polo being hosted in the harbour,” said Du Preez. “This is always a really, really special tour for our kids, and we were absolutely gutted when it was cancelled.”

Collaboration

On the day Oakhill School officially announced the cancellation of the Chukka festivals, Du Preez knew she could not let it end like that. Her athletes had worked hard and trained endlessly for the tournament.

On the WhatsApp group for all the schools intending to attend the tournament, Oakhill School posted a message at noon, officially announcing the cancellation of the event, she said.

At about 12.45pm, Du Preez sent out an open invitation for any school that was interested in attending an alternative U13 event at Sun Valley.

“[So many] schools just jumped on board and took the opportunity for a plan B, wholeheartedly.”

The U13 section of the Oakhill Chukka Festivals was set for the weekend of 5-7 February, but when plans changed Du Preez chose not to shift the dates. That left her with only a week to arrange the replacement tournament, a task she said usually takes months.

Referees, security and medical support had to be arranged at the last minute, while compiling fixtures for so many schools was “extremely complicated”, with many parameters to manage.

While the original Chukka Festivals take place in the Knysna Waterfront, Sun Valley hosted their version in a standard water polo pool by splitting it into two playing fields.

Most schools that took part travelled from Cape Town to Sun Valley, which is just outside Fish Hoek, while two schools from Johannesburg, St John’s College and The Ridge School, made the trek.

A couple of parents helped to host the Johannesburg players and also had a significant role in logistics and planning.

“We would never have been able to do this without the parents’ support,” said Du Preez. “Water polo and sport at Sun Valley just mean the world to us and so we’re so lucky to have a group of parents who are just so involved and who just want the best for their kids.” DM