African Canoe Polo Championships 1 & 2October 2011

On the weekend of 1&2 October 2011, the City of Cape Town together with the V&A Waterfront will host the African Canoe Polo Championships 2011.  The Championship, to be played in the V&A Waterfront Canal, Amsterdam site (next to the City Lodge on Dock Road), will see the Namibian Senior and Junior teams challenging South Africa for a berth at the World Championships to be played in Proznan, Poland in 2012. The event will also include an interprovincial tournament. The event is due to run from 9am - 5pm on Saturday 1 October and the final matches to be played between 9 -1 pm on Sunday 2 October.

Canoe Polo is a team sport, played by men and women, young and those with more life experience. It is similar to water polo, but played in short stumpy canoes. South Africa has been represented at most of the World Championships over the last decade. The object of the game is to score as many goals as possible during the match time. Players manoeuvre themselves with their paddles, and catch and throw the ball between their team with their hands and/or paddles. The goals are suspended 2m above the water. In defending against attacks, players may bump opponent’s boats, like bumper cars.

While canoe polo is more established in the other provinces, it is growing rapidly in the Western Cape. Canoe Polo training is held at the V&A Waterfront Canal, next to the City Lodge on Dock road, every Tuesday and Thursday evening between 5:30-7pm. Contact person is Sam Braid +27 82 899 2220.