Excitement is building towards the biggest U15 boys’ water polo tournament on the annual schools calendar. The Speck Pumps Wynberg Ian Melliar Cup starts on Thursday 12 September when 20 teams from across South Africa play out for ultimate honours through 4 group stages and playoffs to finish in a battle for gold on Sunday 15 September.
The tournament was introduced in 2007 at Wynberg Boys’ High School as the first junior polo Tournament in SA and is run by professional senior referees to full FINA tournament rules. The event has become a virtual who’s-who of boys junior water polo with many of the event’s players progressing to provincial colours at the annual SA Schools Water Polo Tournament held each year in December.
The competition, named for top SA Referee, and Wynberg Old Boy, Ian Melliar who refereed at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games – one of the highlights of his exceptional local and international career – marks a milestone in Water Polo at Wynberg Boys’ High. 2019 sees the 50th year of the sport in WP school leagues since its introduction in 1969.
The 2016 10th anniversary tournament, played in the Wynberg Boys’ 175th celebration year of the schools’ founding, coincided with the school accelerating its Sustainability Programme with remarkable achievements in three short years:
- The School’s boarding facility, Littlewood House, has moved completely off the municipal grid, entirely serviced by borehole water. With groundwater fed into all our admin and sports facilities, WBHS continues to lead in school water sustainability.
- The high school pool was completely rebuilt in 2018 to conserve water, avoiding overflow, splash, and evaporation – a planned project already in place before the crippling drought in the Western Cape. The pool continues to be filled with treated groundwater, drawn from the Krakeelspruit stream that runs underground through the WBHS Campus.
- The massive solar energy project in conjunction with The Sun Exchange has made big news virally – installation of solar panels on the roofs of one the academic wings, the school gymnasium, and at Littlewood House is almost fully operational, with the project to be echoed at Wynberg Boys’ Junior, and the Wynberg Girls’ Junior and High Schools in the weeks ahead.
With this commitment to sustainability, our 2019 version of the Ian Melliar Cup is sustainability-themed, with every possible effort being made to deliver the minimal carbon footprint when we welcome 500 players, officials, and administrators to our campus in September – programmes are digital, the traditional goodie bags are replaced with eco-friendly water bottles, plastic containers and utensils are forbidden, and we welcome the provision of water-from-air suppliers to keep players and spectators hydrated throughout the tournament.
Follow #IMC2019 on our website, and via our dedicated Facebook Page as we bring all participants, families, and fans back home the very best of match live stream video, action and teams photos, live web text commentaries of every game, online competitions, and more.
View the full YouTube playlist – 64 matches and the prize giving: