Unbeaten St Monica Prep set pace in 2025 Rep Bank Mini Polo League 

St Monica’s Preparatory School went unbeaten on the opening day of the 2025 Republic Bank National Primary Schools Mini Polo League on Saturday at the Diego Martin Swimming Pool.

Danielle Popplewell notched nine goals as St Monica’s whipped Dunross Preparatory School 13–11 in a Senior Female match to set the tone for a dominant afternoon for the Dundonald Street, Port of Spain school.

In the Senior Male category, St Monica’s Lamar Rogers registered six goals in a 13-7 victory over Dunross, before whipping their Westmoorings rivals 13–4 with an identical roster in a Junior Male match.

In the match of the day, Mantaray Combined Schools Team edged Diamond Vale Government Primary 8–7, despite Mujahid Joseph netting six goals.

Saturday’s schedule was unimpeded by rainfall associated with the tropical wave over Trinidad and Tobago.

However, the organising committee decided to postpone Sunday’s matches because of persistent bad weather.

While rain was not a factor, St Monica’s created heavy weather for their cross-town rivals, outscoring them 39–22 over the three games.

The closest of the contests was the Senior Female match, where St Monica’s held a narrow 6–5 lead going into half-time.

However, Popplewell, who already had four goals to her credit at the time, smashed in four more during the third quarter to push St Monica’s ahead 11–8 going into the final quarter.

Dunross rallied in the final quarter, getting a double from Ariya Bolai De Matas and an Amilya Marshall strike.

However, Popplewell and Gabrielle Ramharack scored critical goals to win the match 13–11 for St Monica’s.

In the Senior Male match, St Monica’s took control 6–2 after the first quarter before Dunross fought back to narrow the scoreline to 10–7 by the end of the third quarter.

Rogers, who had five goals in the bag already, threw in another. His teammates Kael Williams and Prince Williams also scored to shut out Dunross in the final quarter and claim a comfortable 13–7 win.

Marvin Gillard-Bruce, who coached the game for Daniel West, said that taking control of a match early was critical, especially at the primary school level.

“Working with this particular age group, they tend to get very discouraged easily. So, to avoid that, let them set the tempo of the match. They have to score the first goal,” he said.

“Yes, it is an important match. It was also the opening match. Don’t overthink it. Take your time. Go to a nice level. But for the game, do your very best. Score the first goal, and more will come from there.”

Gillard-Bruce praised the work of the introvert Rogers, who switches on at match-time in a big way.

“He loves to shoot. When it comes to going to score, he is there. He is on when it comes to that.”

Dunross coach Kester Scanterbury described the game as “a learning experience”.

“They really got their foot in during the first half, and we were rallying back,” said Scanterbury. “It was my intention to come back in that last quarter. Unfortunately, we could not get past that goalie in the last quarter, and it never materialised after that.”

The most one-sided of the three contests between the two preparatory schools was the Junior Male match.

Dunross fielded the same team from the Senior Male match, while St Monica’s were without Suri Dev Ban and Zayne Dallaway for the fixture.

Based on how the match turned out, one would have never guessed the final score after watching St Monica’s lead 2–1 after the first quarter and 3–1 at the half.

Lamar Rogers, just as in the Senior match, was the difference, scoring three goals in the third quarter.

Levi Dolsingh also came alive with a double, while Ethan See Wai scored another to outscore Dunross 6–1 in the third quarter.

St Monica’s also excelled in the final quarter with another double from Dolsingh, and items from Rogers and Kael Williams to close out a 13–4 win.

“It’s a bit taxing (playing back-to-back games), but we drill them. Both teams were tired, so it was evenly matched,” Gillard-Bruce said.

The stand-in St Monica’s coach said he kept telling his players to keep calm and play their game.

“So, everybody calmed down, levelled it off, and they started making smarter choices and better decisions. There was too much panic-passing, rushing, and throwing too hard at each other. Once they got over that hurdle, they were good.”

“Two of my top players (Taylan Alexander and Bradley Alexander) got excluded in the first half of the game, so the rest was a bit of an uphill battle,” said Scanterbury. “That set the tone for the rest of the game.”

In the final game, the Mantaray Combined School team jumped to a 2–0 lead with Kellon Diaz and Alessia Dash scoring.

However, Diamond Vale raised the quality of their offence and defence, shutting out Mantaray while scoring through Mujahid Joseph (2) and Jahaan Belfon.

The Mantaray team came out swinging in the third quarter, with Diaz scoring three times and Dash adding another goal to carve out a 6–4 advantage.

The final quarter was a tense battle with Diamond Vale outscoring Mantaray 3–2.

Joseph, who scored three goals in the last quarter, lifted his personal match tally to six goals.

However, Neilian Olive’s speculative shot tied up the scores, while Jose Burgess forced a last-minute penalty throw, which he scored to earn the 8–7 win.

Mantaray coach Ahkeem Valentine said the main inflexion point in the game came when he erroneously called a time-out at the wrong time, forcing the officials to call a penalty against his team.

This put Mantaray goalkeeper Javon Jerry-Lovell on the firing line.

“It was the bravery of our goalkeeper that really stood up. He put the shooter off, and the shooter hit the bar, and from then, that was where the team got back that belief that maybe we were in fact meant to win this game after all,” Valentine.

“I definitely have to give Kellon Diaz credit. I think that out of all my players, he was most ready to go on the day. I can definitely say I saw the drive to win in his eyes.”

The Mantaray team comprises students from seven schools: Mucurapo Boys RC, Diego Martin Government Primary, Eshe’s Learning Centre, Four Roads Government Primary, St Theresa’s Girls, St Margaret’s Boys, and Diego Martin RC.

The mini polo format is a simplified version of the game of water polo, designed for young swimmers aged 6–13.

The rules of Mini polo are more relaxed, with players allowed to stand up as they play in shallow water.

Fixtures for the remainder of the 2025 Republic Bank National Primary Mini Polo League will be released during the week.

(Teams)

Senior Female

 St Monica’s Preparatory School: 1.Jazaliah Paul, 2.Sahara Ali, 4.Zariah Gormandy, 5.Dana Marie Simon, 7.Danielle Popplewell, 8.Allana Williams, 10.Gabrielle Ramharack, 11.Sephra Chandler, 12.Alexa Hillaire, 13.Isabella Sanoir.

Coach: Zoe Butts for Daniel West.

Dunross Preparatory School: 1.Mia Medina-Singh, 2.Amilya Marshall, 3.Ariya Bolai De Matas, 4.Sarah Johnson, 5.Maria-Fernanda Morrin, 6.Victoria Beharry, 7.Elyse-Marie Huggins, 8.Aliana Miller, 9.Lyla Roach, 10.Keilani Beckles, 12.Jaimie Lee, 13.Bella-Marie Hill.

Coach: Gabby Peters (for Kester Scanterbury).

Referee: Marc-Anthony Hinds.

Senior Male

St Monica’s Preparatory School: 1.Irwin Samuel, 2.Ethan Khan, 3.Josh Weekes, 4.Marcellus Myer, 5.Kael Williams, 6.Andrez Robinson, 7.Prince Williams, 8.Lamar Rogers, 9.Levi Dolsingh, 10.Ehan See Wai, 11.Suri Dev Ban, 12.Zayne Dallaway, 13.Kona Williams.

Coach: Marvin Guillard-Bruce for Daniel West.

Dunross Preparatory School: 1.Lucas De Verteuil, 2.Bradley Alexander, 3.Taylan Diaz, 4.Sebastian Lee Chow, 5.Ethan Doldron, 6.Jake De Gannes, 7.Kayden Chin, 8.Xavier Nagee, 9.Jude Mouttet, 10.James De Freitas, 13.Etan Esimaje.

Coach: Kester Scanterbury.

Referee: Marc-Anthony Hinds.

Diamond Vale Government Primary: 1.Benjamin Bompart, 2.Shamar King Baksh, 3.Jevonte Gills, 4.Keith Monsegues, 5.Matthew Innis, 6.Immanuel Phillip, 7.Johana Azizan Saw, 8.Jantte Butler, 9.Azim Agge, 10.Jahaan Belfon, 11.Caleb George, 12.Israel Pierre, 13.Mujahid Joseph.

Coach: Leon Daniel.

Mantaray Combined Schools Team:1.Javon Jerry-Lovell, 3.Kellon Diaz, 4.Kaydon Dash, 5.Jose Burgess, 6.Malachi Garcia, 7.Armani Dash, 8.Zayden Morris, 9.Neilian Olive, 10.Jahi Loobie, 11.Jaydon Olive, 13.Alessia Dash.

Coach: Akheem Valentine.

Junior Male

Dunross Preparatory School: 1.Lucas De Verteuil, 2.Bradley Alexander, 3.Taylan Diaz, 4.Sebastian Lee Chow, 5.Ethan Doldron, 6.Jake De Gannes, 7.Kayden Chin, 8.Xavier Nagee, 9.Jude Mouttet, 10.James De Freitas, 13.Etan Esimaje.

Coach: Kester Scanterbury.

St Monica’s Preparatory School: 1.Irwin Samuel, 2.Ethan Khan, 3.Josh Weekes, 4.Marcellus Myer, 5.Kael Williams, 6.Andrez Robinson, 8.Lamar Rogers, 9.Levi Dolsingh, 10.Ethan See Wai, 12.Zayne Dallaway, 13.Kona Williams.

Coach: Marvin Gillard-Bruce for Daniel West.

Referee: Marc-Anthony Hinds.

Republic Bank National Primary Schools Mini Polo League 2025

(Saturday 17 May)

Senior Female      

St Monica’s Preparatory School 13 (Danielle Popplewell 9, Allana Williams, Gabrielle Ramharack, Isabella Sanoir, Dana Marie Simon), Dunross Preparatory School 11 (Amilya Marshall 4, Ariya Bolai De Matas 4, Bella-Marie Hill 2, Aliana Miller) at Diego Martin Community Pool.

Senior Male      

 St Monica’s Preparatory School 13 (Lamar Rogers 6, Marcellus Myer 3, Prince Williams 2, Kael Williams, Levi Dolsingh), Dunross Preparatory School 7 (Taylan Diaz 6, James De Freitas) at Diego Martin Community Pool;

Diamond Vale Government Primary 7 (Mujahid Joseph 6, Jahaan Belfon), Mantaray Combined Schools Team 8 (Kellon Diaz 4, Alessia Dash 2, Jose Burgess, Neilian Olive);

Junior Male

Dunross Preparatory School 4 (James De Freitas 2, Ethan Doldron, Taylan Diaz), St Monica’s Preparatory School 13 (Lamar Rogers 5, Levi Dolsingh 5, Marcellus Myer, Ethan See Wai, Kael Williams), at Diego Martin Community Pool.