Just weeks after hosting an international team from Florida, the local water polo scene celebrated a milestone with the recent highly exciting inaugural High School Water Polo Tournament.
A total of six teams from five schools competed in a round-robin tournament at Governor’s Beach on 17 June. Each game was played until one team reached five goals.
The tournament concluded with a “nail biting” final, as Cayman International School secured a narrow 5-4 victory over St. Ignatius.
Paired schools, Grace Christian Academy and Homeschool, took third place.
Gabe Bispath of Cayman International School was titled the male MVP of the competition while Kyah Morris, a homeschooler, was the female MVP.
Grant Ferguson, head coach of Cayman water polo, expressed immense excitement about the sport’s growth during a recent interview with Compass TV.
He said the sport started with boys from the Boyz 2 Men programme – a local boys mentorship initiative focused on empowering at-risk young men in Cayman.
It was then introduced to the wider public in hopes of getting everyone involved.
“And here we are. We’ve done it today. We’ve got our first ever schools tournament going,” he said reflecting on the growth while at the school tournament.
Ferguson emphasised the importance of integrating the sport into schools to foster talent and potentially form a national team.
“We’ve got to start it when it’s young, introduce it to the schools [and] give everybody an opportunity to play,” he stated, highlighting the path for identifying promising athletes and giving them the opportunity to continue growing with the sport.
“There’s lots of [water polo] scholarships available in the [USA] at the moment … and we’re going to do our best to play our part and make that possible for everybody,” he added.
Looking ahead, the summer promises more water polo action.
Ferguson says he’ll be hosting two water polo summer camps and ongoing scrimmages every Tuesday and Thursday from 4-6 pm at Governor’s Beach, open to all.
Additional reporting by Seaford Russell Jr.
