Fatima, St Joseph’s Convent take open schools water polo titles in cracking finales

Fatima College edged out St Mary’s College 16-15 in an instant classic to win the Male Open title at the 2025 Republic Bank ASATT National Secondary Schools Water Polo final last Saturday at the National Aquatics Centre in Balmain, Couva.

Jeremiah Henriques-Brown scored 10 goals, including five in the final quarter, to inspire Fatima to their third title in a row and seal a fifth title for coach Andrew Francis.

Francis, ‘Birdman’ to water polo faithful, also led St Joseph’s Convent (POS) to victory in the Female Open tournament, with Alexis Avey striking four times in a 13-10 win over Holy Name Convent.

The experienced trainer also soared to victory with Fatima College in the Male U-16 and Male U-14 competitions and St Joseph’s Convent to the Female U-16 crown—a clean sweep for his teams in the five matches played on the night.

St Joseph’s Convent took two crowns, overcoming Holy Name Convent 21-7 in the Female U-16 and Female Open finals.

The school also won the Female U-14 title, beating Holy Name Convent 2-0 in the best-of-three final. The matches were played in the weeks before finals night.

Fatima College captured three titles Saturday: the Male Open, the Male U-16 title, and the Male U-14 title, where they swept St Mary’s College 3-0 in the best-of-three series.

“This is the first time that all my teams have won gold medals. So, it is a first for me. It was a lot of work in progress, so it was a bit tiring but very rewarding. I am very happy for the kids because they were working towards it, and they really wanted it. It is for them that I am happiest,” Francis said.

Fatima College finished top of the three-team table in the Male Open competition after beating St Mary’s College 14-12 in the preliminary round.

The victory came after the team representing the Mucurapo Road institution was soundly beaten 20-9 by CIC in their first encounter of the season.

Fatima and CIC finished one-two for the season and qualified for Saturday’s final to decide the champion team for 2025.

Francis, in his third season with Fatima College, and Marvin Gillard-Bruce, in his second year with St Mary’s College, were locking horns for the fourth time.

Henriques-Brown and Chin Lee led the Fatima attack, with Evan Gillard-Bruce and Daniel Gillette headlining for St Mary’s College.

Gillard-Bruce was last week named to the 36-strong Trinidad and Tobago swim team, which will compete at the Carifta Aquatics Championships next month at the Balmain, Couva venue in Trinidad.

It would be Gillard-Bruce who got on the board first for CIC, equalising at 1-1 after an early strike by Henriques-Brown.

The tall, muscular Fatima attacker soon restored his school’s lead with a cleaver back flick, a technique that brought him several goals on the night.

Henriques-Brown positioned himself on the near post to receive a pass from teammate Logan Hamel-Smith.

He then gripped the ball with his forearm and hand and, extending backwards, used a twisting motion to propel the sphere behind his back and around the defender to smash it into the net.

However, Fatima and CIC supporters’ applause had hardly died down when Daniel Gillette registered his first goal of the night to tie up the scores at 2-2.

Fatima College put on the jets, rattling off four unanswered goals to end the quarter with a 6-2 lead.

Zachary Low scored his first, Henriques-Brown added two more goals, and Kyle Chin Lee speared in a penalty just before the klaxon blared to end the first quarter.

CIC did themselves no favours by failing to convert a penalty throw during the four-goal run by Fatima.

Gillard-Bruce was the guilty party, with his skipping throw brilliantly saved by Fatima custodian Josiah Cumberbatch.

Francis moved Henriques-Brown to a defensive position after his explosive first quarter, and St Mary’s attack came to the fore, dominating the second quarter with five goals to lead for the first time.

Hinds rattled off a quickfire hat-trick, with the third coming from a delightful flick that thrilled the crowd.

Gillette and Gillard-Bruce also netted in the second quarter, but CIC would look back at opportunities they failed to take to enhance their lead.

St Mary’s wasted another penalty throw opportunity with Cumberbatch saving from Hinds, while Gillette also hit a post during their period of dominance.

Fatima College would emerge after the end of the interval to net two quick goals and retake the lead at 8-7.

Henriques-Brown scored from his half with a low slinger before passing to Chin Lee to notch his double.

This set in motion the most turbulent period of the game, with both sides exchanging scores and momentum swinging back and forth like a pendulum on steroids.

The major inflexion point in the game came during this period of thrilling chaos.

CIC had taken the lead 9-8 through a Gillard-Bruce penalty and, while pressing for a two-goal cushion, hit the upright twice within seconds.

As they recovered from the disappointment, the Saints seemed to lose their poise briefly, allowing Fatima to retake the lead with goals from Chin Lee (his fourth) and Low to lead 11-9.

Gillette managed to pull back a goal just before the end of the quarter, with St Mary’s trailing 11-10 after a spellbinding eight minutes.

Within minutes, all that came before was quickly consigned to the recesses of the hippocampus. The final quarter produced 10 goals and plot twists to rival an M Night Shyamalan flick.

Francis restored Henriques-Brown to the tip of the Fatima attack, and the move proved to be a masterstroke, with the attacker notching three quick goals to put his team in front 14-11.

Pierre responded for CIC before Henriques-Brown netted his fourth goal of the final quarter to restore Fatima’s four-goal lead.

Surely, it was all over for St Mary’s now?

It wasn’t.

With time running down, the Saints incredibly found another gear and fired in three times to make it a one-goal game at 15-14.

Hinds got the first, Carson Spencer came up clutch with his only goal of the game, and then Pierre put St Mary’s a goal away from knotting up the scores.

However, chasing the equaliser, the Saints conceded a late penalty, much to the dismay of their fans.

Henriques-Brown nervelessly fired in his throw to the right of CIC goalkeeper Gregg Mannette to notch his tenth goal and, more importantly, give Fatima a 16-14 lead with less than a minute to play.

The Saints charged forward and were rewarded with a goal for Hinds to make it 16-15 with seconds to play. But as they geared up for a final assault on Fatima’s goal, the horn sounded, bringing an end to an enthralling contest.

Fatima were winners 16-15, against a St Mary’s team that were defeated but not vanquished.

It was one of the most thrilling final matches in the tournament’s young history, and it will probably be talked about for some time to come.

“Very few [better finals], but I have had some close encounters. We played QRC in the 2023 finals, and it was hammer and tongs all the way, as well. It’s not the first time it’s been close like that, but that was definitely closest and the most stressful,” Francis, the Fatima coach, said.

Henriques-Brown (10 goals) dominated the scoring for Fatima, with Chin Lee (four) and Low (two) adding important goals.

“He is difficult to contain because Jeremiah [Henriques-Brown] is an athlete who is very goal-oriented, and when he wants to win, he will put in that effort to win. When we entered that game, he was going to be our main issue,” opposing coach Gillard-Bruce said.

“Jerry is an extremely talented player. He has a lot of skill. He trains really hard. He lives and breathes the sport. He loves the sport, and it shows in his execution. He is highly competitive and definitely one of our star players,” Francis said of his top goal-scorer.

“I have to give credit to our goalie Josiah Cumberbatch. He pulled off some saves that definitely kept us in the game. Kyle Chin Lee had a strong defensive performance as well. We had quite a few players to help Jerry along to get those 10 goals. Jerry is in a class on his own.”

For St Mary’s, Hinds’ five goals went with hat-tricks for Gillette and Gillard-Bruce and a solitary item for Carson in the loss.

“I am not disappointed with their performance in the slightest. I must commend them because Saturday had to be the best day. All the game that we played, even though I was not victorious in them, all those athletes put their best foot forward. I am very proud of all of them,” Gillard-Bruce said.

“I would say that is the best final. There were a few athletes who did not step up much during the initial round-robin and they really showed up on Saturday.”

Earlier, in the Female Open, coach Francis and his St Joseph’s Convent team again locked horns with Gillard-Bruce and his Holy Name Convent (POS) team.

St Joseph Convent had not won the title since 2017, with Bishop Anstey High School winning every Female Open title from 2018 to 2024.

They started the final as favourites, having beaten Holy Name Convent in both encounters during the regular season, outscoring their rivals 27-13.

“All season long, they were the strongest team. Essentially, I was just reinforcing that to them. Even though on finals day anything can happen. Holy Name came with a different tactic and a different mentality than they exhibited throughout the season,” said coach Francis.

St Joseph’s Convent fans looked to Alexis Avey, Mekelle Cedeno, and Jodie-Marie Riley to do the damage. At the same time, Holy Name had the talents of Mia Thomas and Melanie Valdez-Brown to champion their cause.

The match looked like a horrible mismatch at the start, with St Joseph’s Convent blasting out of the blocks to a 3-0 lead with goals from Avey, Khiara Benjamin-Roach, and Shauna Murphy.

However, any notions that Holy Name Convent were going to meekly capitulate were quickly dispelled as they rattled off four goals to take the lead 4-3.

Valdez-Brown got them on the board before Thomas netted a quick double. Stone then ended a great move involving three other teammates to earn a fourth goal.

However, St Joseph’s Convent stemmed the tide through Murphy, who doubled her tally before the end of the first quarter to level the tie at 4-4.

Game on.

“Initially, when we went down 3-0, we were making sloppy mistakes, so every opportunity we had, we would shout corrections, boost their confidence,” said Gillard-Bruce.

“I had called a time out in that moment to try to break that momentum and get ourselves refocused. It is just about being able to control those times of the game to get it back in our favour,” said Francis.

“Holy Name came with a different tactic and a different mentality than they exhibited throughout the season. So it was definitely a different game and a different outcome from what I expected.”

The second quarter was another seesaw affair, with St Joseph’s Convent edging ahead 8-6 at the half.

Again, the Saints started brilliantly with three goals scored to forge into a 7-4 advantage.

Avey, Cedeno, and Riley netted for St Joseph’s, but they would not have it all their way with Thomas and Diana Alvarez-Peralta answering for Holy Name Convent.

However, Riley’s second goal of the quarter gave St Joseph’s an 8-6 advantage, packing more discomfort into Holy Name’s half-time break.

The third quarter was gripping, with St Joseph’s Convent firming up its hold on the match with three more goals to flesh out their lead to 11-7.

Jenaya Richens fired in her only goal of the game to go with a double from Avey.

Alvarez-Peralta added another strike for Holy Name, but their hopes slipped away slowly at the end of the third quarter.

Up to that point, St Joseph’s Convent had scored eight goals in the early minutes of the first three quarters.

Gillard-Bruce’s team talk took his charges out of their post-interval funk, and they started enterprisingly with three goals separated only by a strike from Cedeno.

A Chiara Boiselle strike and a Valdez-Brown double in the final quarter put Holy Name back to within two goals at 12-10.

However, Cedeno, who coaches St Joseph’s Form One water polo team, struck the killer blow.

Awarded a penalty, she looked a picture of composure treading water, waiting for the referees’ whistle to take the five-meter shot.

Complex emotions may have bubbled below the surface, but they did not show as she held her nerve to arrow the ball into the right corner to seal a 13-10 scoreline.

The whistle went soon after, and Cedeno’s emotions erupted with tears commingling on her cheeks with the chlorinated water as she climbed from the pool.

Several of her teammates also wept with joy as they had defied a fierce fightback from Holy Name Convent to record their school’s first water polo title win in eight years.

“I was happy for them. I was just letting them express their emotions however they needed to, and I was just happy for them,” said Francis.

Avey took the headlines for St Joseph’s Convent, with Riley and Cedeno getting hat-tricks.

For Holy Name Convent, Valdez-Brown and Thomas had trebles with Alvarez-Peralta doubling up.

In the other matches on the night, Murphy scored six goals to lead St Joseph’s Convent to a 21-7 win and complete the double over Holy Name Convent on the night.

Fatima won the Male U-16 title in a 13-12 cliffhanger over Queen’s Royal College, with Liam Chin Lee scoring three of his four goals in the last quarter.

Finally, Christian Grant bagged eight goals in Fatima College’s 18-3 drubbing of St Mary’s College to seal a 3-0 best-of-three series win and claim the Male U-14 crown.

It was a red-letter night for Fatima College and St Joseph’s Convent, and both schools hope to emulate it in the 2026 Republic Bank ASATT National Secondary Schools Water Polo season.

2025 Republic Bank ASATT National Secondary School Water Polo League

Results

Open Male Final

Fatima College 16 (Jeremiah Henriques-Brown 10, Kyle Chin Lee 4, Zachary Low 2), St Mary’s College 15 (Marc-Anthony Hinds 5, Even Gillard-Bruce 3, Daniel Gillette 3, Kairell Pierre 3, Carson Spencer) at National Aquatics Center, Balmain;

Open Female Final

St Joseph’s Convent POS 13 (Alexis Avey 4, Mekelle Cedeno 3, Jodie-Marie Riley 3, Khiara Benjamin-Roach, Shauna Murphy, Jenaya Richens), Holy Name Convent POS 10 (Mia Thomas 3, Melanie Valdez-Brown 3, Diana Alvarez-Peralta 2, Elin Stone, Chiara Boiselle) at National Aquatics Center, Balmain;

U16 Male Final

Fatima College 13 (Liam Chin Lee 4, Zachary Low 3, Shane Gransaull, Logan Calder, Malachi Leach, Nathan Franklyn, Josef Thomas, Alex Doldron), Queen’s Royal College 12 (Luke Gibson 5, Aaron Villafana 4, Johance Kirton, Amaree Orr, Daniel Brathwaite) at National Aquatics Center, Balmain;

U16 Female Final

St Joseph’s Covent 21 (Shauna Murphy 6, Abella Mollenthiel 4, Alexis Avey 4, Romaya Pierre 2, Jenaya Richens 2, Eliana Lee, Gabrielle Popplewell, Makeda Pottinger), Holy Name Convent 7 (Melanie Valdez-Brown 2, Elin Stone 2, Ellyce Hannibal, Korrie Cario, Chiara Boiselle) at National Aquatics Center, Balmain;

U14 Male (Game Three of Best-of-Three series)

Fatima College 18 (Christian Grant 8, Giovanni Felician-Moses 5, Liam Rogers 2, Malachai Leach 2, Apollo Arjoon), St Mary’s College 3 (Micah Blackman-McLean 3) at National Aquatics Center, Balmain;

***Fatima won the best of three series 3-0.

***St Joseph’s Convent POS won the U14 Female title beating Holy Name Convent 2-0 in the best-of-three series.

(Teams)

Open Female Final

St Joseph’s Convent POS: 1.Madison Reid. 2.Gabrielle Popplewell, 3.Jenaya Richens, 4.Shauna Murphy, 5.Jodie-Marie Riley, 6.Mekelle Cedeno, 7.Khiara Benjamin-Roach, 8.Eliana Lee, 10.Alexis Avey, 13.Olivia Griffith.

Coach: Andrew Francis

Holy Name Convent POS: 1.Paige Mouttet, 2.Chelsea Ramsey, 3.Mia Thomas, Melanie Valdez-Brown, 5. Rachel Butts, 6.Saricah Whittier, 7.Diana Alvarez-Peralta, 8.Korrie Cario, 9.Elin Stone, 10.Jordyn Calder, 11.Frances Gomez-Buurke, 12.Chiara Boiselle, 13.Eryn Hackett.

Coach: Marvin Gillard-Bruce.

Referees: Jamila Devers, Ariel Stewart.

Open Male Final

Fatima College: 1.Josiah Cumberbatch, 2.Zachary Low, 3.Jeremiah Henriques-Brown, 4.Logan Hamel-Smith, 5.Mikel Clement, 6.Joshua Joseph, 7.Zayne Regis, 8.Jair Moolchan, 9.Luke Lee King, 10.Marcuus Chevalier, 11.Kyros Joseph, 12.Brandon Joseph, 13.Kyle Chin Lee.

Coach: Andrew Francis.

St Mary’s College: 1.Gregg Mannette, 3.Kaidon Roopchan, 5.Gabriel Fullerton, 6.Enrique Garcia, 7.Evan Gillard-Bruce, 8.Daniel Gillette, 10.Jonathan Nimblett, 11.Carson Spencer, 12.Kairell Pierre, 13.Marc Anthony Hinds

Coach: Marvin Gillard-Bruce.

Referees: Ethan Elliot, Henley Callender.

FINAL RESULTS:

Form 1 Female

1. Combined 3
2. Combined 1
3. St Joseph’s Convent (POS)

Form 1 Male

1. Combined 2
2. St Mary’s College
3. Fatima College

U14 Female

1. St Joseph’s Convent (POS)
2. Bishop Anstey High School (POS)

U14 Male

1. Fatima College
2. St Mary’s College

U16 Female

1. St Joseph’s Convent (POS)
2. Holy Name Convent (POS)
3. Bishop Anstey High School (POS)

U16 Male

1. Fatima College
2. Queen’s Royal College
3. St Mary’s College

Open Female

1. St Joseph’s Convent (POS)
2. Holy Name Convent (POS)
3. Bishop Anstey High School (POS)

Open Male

1. Fatima College
2. St Mary’s College
3. Queen’s Royal College