Several of our sporting teams participated in the annual Parktown Sports Festival. We entered two hockey and two netball teams, a tennis team and a water polo team. A festival such as this provides an ideal opportunity for younger players to participate in a tournament-type competition. They benefit from working with the more experienced players and develop a greater understanding of the demands of competition by playing against stronger opposition.

Hockey

Our two hockey teams produced good results in the pool stages. Team 1 won their section and Team 2 finished second in theirs. This resulted in the two St Mary’s teams playing each other in the cross-pool playoffs. Team 1 won and went on to play against a strong team from Brescia in the final. At fulltime the scores were even. Ultimately the result was
determined by penalties which our girls went on to win. This meant Team 1 were the overall tournament winners. Team 2 did very well to win their playoff and finish third overall.

Netball

This was the second year that we participated in this festival and we had the privilege of entering two teams. St Mary’s 1 won all their pool matches and ended first in their pool, while St Mary’s 2 lost one match against Jeppe Girls’ High and ended second in their pool. The two St Mary’s teams qualified for the semi-finals and, unfortunately, played each other. St Mary’s 1 narrowly beat St Mary’s 2 to go through to the final against Jeppe Girls’ High. St Mary’s 2 played Parktown Girls’ High for the bronze medal and, unfortunately, lost the match and placed fourth in the festival.

At full time in the final, the two teams had even scores which led to extra time of one minute per side. At the end of extra time, the two teams still had even scores which then led to sudden death. The team to score the first goal would win the match and win the festival. St Mary’s 1 won the toss-up, scored the first goal and won the festival.

Congratulations to all the girls who competed in the festival this weekend.

Tennis

Seven schools participated in the tennis section of the Parktown Sports Festival. Congratulations to the Form III team who competed well and ended third. All the players obtained valuable match experience and enjoyed participating in this well-organised festival.

Waterpolo

The 2nd/U15 team took part in the Parktown Sports Festival where they competed against other 1st teams from various schools. They placed fifth in a very exciting match against Dainfern College where Olivia Haselau scored a vital goal in the last six seconds of the match. The tournament was tough for the young team, however, the girls gained lots of exposure playing against stronger opposition.

Well done, water polo!

Taryn de Winnaar
Head of sport: Senior School