Twenty of the country’s top water polo teams will be in action at the SACS Water Polo Tournament in Cape Town from Thursday to Saturday.
The three-day event takes place at the visually striking SACS Aquatic Centre, where hundreds of spectators are expected.
Catch the action LIVE on SuperSport Schools.
The event is stacked with top teams, including the defending champions, St John’s College, who have won the tournament twice in the past four years and seven times since it began in 1984.
Last year’s final went down to the wire, with coach Jon-Marc De Carvalho‘s boys edging out their provincial rivals, St David’s Marist Inanda, 11-10 to lay claim to the winner’s trophy.
St John’s is in Pool B, along with Paul Roos Gimnasium, Bishops, Clifton College, Jeppe, Northwood, Parktown Boys’ High, Pretoria Boys High, Rondebosch Boys’ High, and Selborne College.
St John’s, along with Clifton and Selborne, were in action at the Clifton Water Polo Tournament, which ended on Sunday.
Clifton, at their home tournament, took third after beating Affies 8-6 in the bronze medal match. Although they, like Clifton, lost only once, St John’s had to settle for fifth place, while Selborne finished 13th.
The Cape Town duo of Bishops and Rondebosch will be eager to make their mark at SACS.
Bishops enjoyed another productive campaign in late 2025 and early 2026 under coach Jabulani Sibiya, and they’ll be desperate to add another SACS title after winning it for the first time in 2024.
Rondebosch, meanwhile, last enjoyed success at the tournament before the COVID-19 pandemic era,
They dominated the playing field for three years, winning successive titles in 2016, 2017, and 2018.
Bosch coach Jared Wingate-Pearse will aim to build on the momentum his charges created last season. They’ll target a better showing than last year’s quarterfinals exit.
Teams like Paul Roos, Jeppe, Northwood, Parktown Boys’ High, and Pretoria Boys High will head into the tournament as underdogs, but that makes them dangerous and a threat to upset the top dogs’ hopes.
SACS is in Pool A, where their title aspirations will face a stern challenge.
They’re up against Grey High, Grey College, Hilton College, St Alban’s College, St Andrew’s College, St Benedict’s College, St David’s Marist Inanda, St Stithians College, and Wynberg Boys’ High.
Last year, SACS ended fourth after a narrow 6-7 loss to Bishops in the bronze-medal clash.
Last week, at Clifton, they suffered two losses and had to settle for seventh place. They did, though, beat Hilton in a Pool D game, and Hilton went on to win the tournament, beating Kearsney College 5-4 on penalties after the final ended tied 8-8.
Hilton is among the favourites, but coach Paul Martin‘s side knows a tough task awaits them. Games come thick and fast, and one poor performance can result in dire consequences.
Last year’s runner-up, St David’s Marist Inanda, has made waves over the past two seasons. They’ll be eager to continue on that track, but will be wary of their Johannesburg rivals, St Stithians.
Meanwhile, Grey High, Grey College, St Alban’s, St Andrew’s College, St Benedict’s, and Wynberg Boys’ High will relish their opportunities to upset the established order.
Thursday’s action kicks off at 07:10 with a Pool A clash between St Alban’s and Hilton College.
The hosts take on Grey College at 10:50, while St John’s get their title defence underway against a familiar rival, Jeppe, at 09:30.
TOURNAMENT RULES
Games are 2 x 5-minute stop-start chukkas, with 2 minutes between chukkas and 2 minutes between games.
Teams listed first wear white caps, and teams listed second wear blue caps.
No time-outs.
Two points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss.
Teams must be in the pool immediately after the previous game has ended and be ready to start.
Semifinals and Final: 2 x 7-minute stop-start chukkas. If there is a tie, then 2 x 3-minute extra stop-start chukkas will be played. If there’s still a tie, then a penalty shoot-out will decide the game.
In the event of teams being tied on points in qualification for the quarterfinals, the team that won their mutual encounter goes through. If more than two teams are tied, or pool games are drawn, then the goal difference will be the decider.
For the rest, FINA rules will apply.
Previous Five Winners
2021 – Clifton
2022 – St John’s
2023 – SACS
2024 – Bishops
2025 – St John’s
TEAMS
Pool A: Grey High, Grey College, Hilton, SACS, St Alban’s, St Andrew’s College, St Benedict’s College, St David’s Marist Inanda, St Stithians College, Wynberg Boys’ High.
Pool B: Paul Roos, Bishops, Clifton, Jeppe, Northwood, Parktown Boys’ High, Pretoria Boys High, Rondebosch Boys’ High, Selborne College, St John’s College.
FIXTURES
Thursday, 24 September
Pool A
07:10 – St Alban’s vs Hilton College
07:30 – SACS vs Grey College
08:30 – St Andrew’s vs St Benedict’s
08:50 – St David’s vs SACS
09:50 – Wynberg vs St Stithians
10:10 – Grey College vs Hilton College
11:10 – SACS vs St Benedict’s
11:30 – Wynberg vs Grey High
12:30 – St David’s vs St Stithians
12:50 – St Andrew’s vs St Alban’s
13:50 – Grey College vs St Benedict’s
14:10 – St David’s vs Grey High
15:10 – St Alban’s vs St Stithians
15:30 – St Andrew’s vs Wynberg
16:30 – Hilton College vs Grey High
16:50 – St David’s vs Grey College
17:30 – St Alban’s vs Wynberg
18:10 – St Andrew’s vs Hilton College
19:30 – Grey High vs St Benedict’s
19:50 – SACS vs St Stithians
Pool B
07:50 – Rondebosch vs Paul Roos
08:10 – Clifton vs Selborne
09:10 – Bishops vs Pretoria Boys
09:30 – St John’s vs Jeppe
10:30 – Northwood vs Parktown
10:50 – Rondebosch vs Selborne
11:50 – St John’s vs Paul Roos
12:10 – Bishops vs Jeppe
13:10 – Pretoria Boys vs Parktown
13:30 – Clifton vs Northwood
14:30 – Paul Roos vs Jeppe
14:50 – Rondebosch vs Parktown
15:50 – Bishops vs Northwood
16:10 – St John’s vs Clifton
17:10 – Selborne vs Pretoria Boys
17:50 – Clifton vs Parktown
18:30 – Bishops vs Paul Roos
18:50 – St John’s vs Selborne
19:10 – Jeppe vs Pretoria Boys
20:10 – Rondebosch vs Northwood
Friday, 25 September
Pool A
08:10 – St Andrew’s vs Grey College
08:30 – St Alban’s vs SACS
08:50 – Grey High vs St Stithians
09:10 – St David’s vs Wynberg
09:50 – Hilton College vs St Benedict’s
10:10 – St Andrew’s vs SACS
11:10 – St David’s vs St Albans
11:30 – Hilton College vs St Stithians
12:30 – Grey College vs Grey High
12:50 – Wynberg vs St Benedict’s
13:50 – St Andrew’s vs St David’s
14:10 – Grey College vs St Stithians
14:50 – SACS vs Grey High
15:10 – Wynberg vs Hilton College
16:30 – St David’s vs St Benedicts
16:50 – St Andrew’s vs St Stithians
17:30 – St Alban’s vs Grey High
18:10 – SACS vs Hilton College
19:30 – Wynberg vs Grey College
19:50 – St Alban’s vs St Benedict’s
Pool B
07:10 – Jeppe vs Parktown
07:30 – Bishops vs Selborne
07:50 – St John’s vs Northwood
09:30 – Paul Roos vs Pretoria Boys
10:30 – Rondebosch vs Clifton
10:50 – Selborne vs Jeppe
11:50 – Paul Roos vs Parktown
12:10 – Bishops vs Clifton
13:10 – St John’s vs Rondebosch
13:30 – Northwood vs Pretoria Boys
14:30 – Selborne vs Parktown
15:30 – Bishops vs St Johns
15:50 – Clifton vs Jeppe
16:10 – Northwood vs Paul Roos
17:10 – Rondebosch vs Pretoria Boys
17:50 – Bishops vs Parktown
18:30 – Clifton vs Paul Roos
18:50 – Northwood vs Selborne
19:10 – Rondebosch vs Jeppe
20:10 – St John’s vs Pretoria Boys
Saturday, 26 September
Pool A
06:50 – St Andrew’s vs Grey High
07:10 – St Benedict’s vs St Stithians
08:10 – St David’s vs Hilton College
08:30 – St Alban’s vs Grey College
09:30 – SACS vs Wynberg
Pool B
07:30 – Selborne vs Paul Roos
07:50 – Northwood vs Jeppe
08:50 – St John’s vs Parktown
09:10 – Clifton vs Pretoria Boys
09:50 – Bishops vs Rondebosch
Quarterfinals
10:40 – Pool A3 vs Pool B2
11:00 – Pool A2 vs Pool B3
11:20 – Pool A1 vs Pool B4
11:40 – Pool A4 vs Pool B1
Semifinals
12:30 – QF1 vs QF3
13:00 – QF2 vs QF4
Bronze medal match
14:00 – TBC vs TBC
Final
14:30 – TBC vs TBC
