The Water Polo Academy

06/01/2021

The Water Polo Academy Training sessions will be starting again on Sunday 17 January. Info will be sent out to all on email shortly.

26/11/2020

Well done Reddam Water Polo!

We are incredibly proud to announce that both the Reddam House Constantia U19 Boys and Girls teams have been awarded the Western Province Teams of the Year for 2020. Congratulations to all the players, coaches and supporters. We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our Matric players well as they embark on their new chapter.

08/09/2020

DESTINED FOR GREATNESS

A player in her first collegiate game can be tentative, but that certainly wasn’t the case for ­Ashleigh Johnson ’16.

In her inaugural game as the goalie for the women’s water polo team, Johnson blocked 19 shots, setting a program record for saves in a single game.

That Feb. 8 game, against No. 4-ranked California, ended in a 7–5 loss for Princeton, but it was a spectacular debut for Johnson, a 6-foot-1 from Miami.

The next day, Johnson showed that her first performance was no fluke, making seven saves in each of the team’s three games to help the Tigers go 3–1 at the Princeton Invitational Tournament.

Johnson was named the division’s Defensive Player of the Week, Rookie of the Week, and Player of the Week, the first player ever to sweep the awards.

“She just makes it look easy in terms of her physical strength and her leg strength and her quickness left-to-right,” head coach Luis Nicolao said. “She’s very smart in the water. She has a good feel for the game.”

Johnson has been a goalie since elementary school, when her parents introduced her and her four siblings to water polo.

She began playing for the Gulliver Riptides, a club team in Miami, when she was 12.

Although Miami is not known for water polo, Johnson made frequent trips to California, the water polo capital of the country, with her club and with the U.S. Youth National Team.

Several California colleges known for sending water polo players to the Olympics were interested in Johnson, but she chose Princeton because she wanted to focus on academics as much as sports, she said. “I can still enjoy my life” at Princeton, Johnson said. “I have a choice here.”

The Tigers are fresh off their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance in 2012, when they started the season ranked 20th but defeated several tough opponents to finish in the top 10.

“I like the feeling after you block,” Johnson said. “I feel that everything you do in goal, you can see an immediate reward.”

Currently Olympic Gold medalist Rio 2016 and 2 x World Champion 2015/2019.

21/08/2020

20/08/2020

Congrats to Alex and Tom

Alex and Thomas Ackerman started playing water polo at the age of 8 years old. Through the years they have played in the same pool and the same team, attendi...

18/08/2020

Johnson recently chatted with Know Your Value about shifting perspective, mental toughness and how she’s smashing the stereotypes of being a Black athlete in a predominantly white sport.

09/08/2020

So true ... WPA coaches can’t wait to get back to coaching

29/06/2020

13/05/2020

Today sees 2 exciting sessions taking place!

🤽‍♂️WATER POLO - Greg Enloe joins us LIVE from the USA! Greg is a former US men’s team member, ex pro and current head coach of the Enloe Academy. Greg will be taking over the session and doing some dry land conditioning with us. We also have Gush Zvulun Water Polo club joining us from Israel!

🏑HOCKEY - Brian Myburgh joins us for a sports yoga session! We have made this a FREE OPEN session for anyone to join! Brian is an Olympian and current SA Goal keeping coach. Bring your water bottle and a tag a friend. Please mail [email protected] if you would like to join us!

R120 per month for 12 sessions and 8 extra drills!

Sign up here: https://forms.gle/8NHuwK4nM3N82Lot8

06/05/2020

The Online Water Polo and Hockey Academy is taking off. We are are now running some competitions. If you sign up now, use your friends name as a referral, so they stand a chance of winning.