Three times a week, children living on farms in Stellenbosch gather at a small dam on Polkadraai Road to play canoe polo, also known as kayak polo. This unique sport is water polo, played on kayaks. | GroundUp_News
"Playing canoe polo helps me relax, to get rid of my stress," says Camurin Abrahams, one of the team's strongest players.
Abrahams is the highest ranking under-18 player in the Western Cape and one of four players in the Stellenbosch team who will be representing South Africa at the Junior International Championships in Ireland this July. Others chosen for this opportunity are Dale Pretorius, Romano Lackay and Keeshia Lackay. Kayak polo is well-known internationally but relatively new in South Africa, says coach Susan Fietz.
The team relies on funding from Canoeing South Africa and private donors. At the moment, they still use make-shift goalposts for practices.Because South Africa only has one category for children under-18, the teams are made up of children of different ages, ranging between eight and 18 years old. Fietz says that the sport plays an important developmental role in the lives of the children. They learn leadership skills and teamwork, as well as water safety.Join the 1 million News24 readers who are signed up to receive the top, must-read stories of the day in their inbox. Join them and get premium news, every weekday at 6 am.In a typical match, teams of five players compete to score goals. The goalposts are suspended two metres above the water.
One of the most technical moves is a"roll", in which a player is pushed over by another player, with the ball in hand, and pops back up on the other side.In times of uncertainty you need journalism you can trust. For 14 free days, you can have access to a world of in-depth analyses, investigative journalism, top opinions and a range of features. Journalism strengthens democracy. Invest in the future today. Thereafter you will be billed R75 per month.
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Canoe polo: Stellenbosch farm children paddle to successThree times a week, children living on farms in Stellenbosch gather at a small dam on Polkadraai road to play canoe polo, also known as kayak polo. This unique sport is water polo, played on kayaks.
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