Trinidad and Tobago created water polo history at the CCCAN Championships in Costa Rica Sunday when they brought home their first ever gold medal.
The T&T Boys Under-17 team defeated Puerto Rico 8-4 in the finals to lift the CCCAN crown.
The T&T team played undefeated during the tournament, with victories over Puerto Rico (6-5), Jamaica (21-1) and Panama (27-1) in the first round before triumphing 22-2 against Panama in the semi finals and the 8-4 win in the final.
In the final against Puerto Rico, T&T were down 2-0 after the first quarter before they settled down and proceeded on a 8-2 run in the final three quarters.
After the match head delegate of the T&T water polo contingent Paul Newallo was obviously pleased with the achievement.
“The 14 weekly workout sessions (in the lead-up to the Games) paid dividends when the boys outclassed Puerto Rico in the second half to win the gold medal.
Trinidad and Tobago also took all the top individual honours in the tournament with Sebastian Van Reeken named as Best Goalkeeper, Leon Daniel gaining the award for Most Goals, and Adrian Hinds named as MVP.
Newallo said head coach Alan Too a Foo had a single mission to win the gold in the preparations for this tournament “and the hard work certainly paid off on the 7th July.”
After their successful CCCAN campaign, the U-17 boys have been given one week off before preparation for the Pan Am Junior Water Polo Championships begin on July 15.
The Pan Ams splash off in Argentina from August 3-31 and is a qualifier for the World Juniors next year.
The T&T water polo team was scheduled to land at Piarco airport yesterday afternoon.