Persistence paid off for Fatima College the overall winner of the annual National Secondary Schools Water Polo League 2010 after many years of domination by rival St Mary's College.
Included in their winnings was the Open Male trophy, which they were able to wrest from St. Mary's for the first time.
"I'm sure next year they'll be coming back for us. Right now, we just want to bask in our winnings and we're glad to go home as the open champions 2010," said 15-year-old Fatima Open Male player Daniel Tardieu.
He was speaking with The Student Press following the closing ceremony of the First Citizens-sponsored league that was held on Friday at Bishops Anstey High School Hall, Port of Spain.
Fatima took home three of the four male categories, retaining their championship status in Junior Male/Under 16, and dethroned St. Mary's in the Infantile Male/Form One and Open Male categories.
St. Mary's had to settle for second in these categories, but held on to their trophy for Juvenile Male/Under 14. Queen's Royal College took home the bronze in Open Male and Junior Male, and International School of Port-of-Spain placed third in Infantile Male.
St. Mary's Under-16 captain, 15-year-old fourth former Joshua Cabral, was very sporting in his comments about the loss.
"We tried as hard as we could, but at the end of the day, Fatima was honestly the better team than us."
Fatima should not rest on their laurels, however, as he noted that St. Mary's emerging Under-16 team was very strong.
"And I think they will have a pretty good chance of being able to make it to the finals and win."
It was Fatima's first time winning the Open Male category, despite making it to the finals on previous occasions. They, however, were always edged out by St. Mary's losing out on the title by a margin of one or two goals. At the 2010 competition, Fatima trumped their rivals 11 goals to nine.
Tardieu attributed the win to the team's hard work, the team captain, coaches and the parents who had the demanding job of transporting team members to and from practice. He added that the exposure he and some of the other players received playing with the Under-19 National Water Polo Team also greatly contributed to their success.
Having national players on the side also benefitted the other big winner for the night, St. Joseph's Convent, Port-of-Spain, who retained their Junior Female and Open Female titles with the leadership of 14-year-old Renée Chin Lee and 16-year-old Nicola Welch, respectively.
St. Joseph's Convent's water polo team show off their medals at the ceremony.
"I think we worked really hard. We trained on Sundays every week and the girls made a big effort to come out to training," said Chin Lee, a fourth-former
She thanked her coach, teammates and parents for their support for all their matches.
Welch, a fifth-former, who has been playing the sport since 2007, said she felt proud to represent her school and captain the team.
"Being a national player, I have a lot more experience and I've been playing longer than a lot of girls on the team. I'm there to guide them, basically."
Her coach, Kenny Francis, told The Student Press that she was the top scorer at the 25th Carifta Swimming, Water Polo and Synchronised Swimming Championship held in Jamaica earlier this month, where this country brought home gold medals in both the male and female Under-19 water polo competition.
Returning to the secondary school awards, Providence Girls Catholic School placed second in Open Female and Junior Female, but snatched away the win for the last female category, Infantile Female, from rivals St. Joseph's Convent.
"Well, it felt good because St. Joseph is always like they could beat us. We proved them wrong," said 11-year-old Providence co-captain Jordan Vanreeken.
Diego Martin Central Secondary School placed third in the category.
But it was all about Fatima that night, as there were loud shouts and screams each time they stepped up to receive an award, including from a small group of Providence Girls.
Fatima Under-16 water polo coach Alan Too-a-Foo, who also coaches for the national team, said it a took a long time to dethrone St. Mary's College as overall trophy winners.
"After seven years of CIC domination, that was good."
He noted that the team this year was very close-knit and played as a team.
Fatima principal Fr. Gregory Augustine pointed out that Too-a-Foo and fellow parent coach John Ferreira were the driving force behind the teams. He told The Student Press he felt "extremely proud" of the boys and that they were dedicated and devoted.
Augustine also had some tough talk for Fatima's water polo rivals.
"Though it's our first time (winning overall), we're not letting go of that ... it's not going to be the last. They will have a fight on their hands to take it away from us."
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