‘No wins, but we are improving’
The Cape Town Summer Series took place from January 20 to February 3 at Hartleyvale Hockey Stadium, with both the men’s and women’s national players in action.
One member of the men’s squad, which played against the Netherlands and Belgium, was former Benoni Northerns Junior Hockey Club (BNJH) player Jethro Eustice.
Although the team didn’t win any of their six matches there is much positivity around the potential of the side ahead of the next Olympic Games.
The City Times’ sport journalist Logan Green caught up with Benoni’s favourite hockey son and posed some questions:
LG: How was the experience?
JE: Playing against the Netherlands and the current Olympic Silver medallists, Belgium, was an incredible experience. Both teams are starting their new four-year cycle towards the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and to see the potential that these nations have is something we just don’t experience enough of. These Summer Series tournaments are vital for us, as South African national teams. We improve so much by playing against the likes of Holland and Belgium in an international series. We had a lot of experienced players and some exciting new talent coming through, which makes our next four-year cycle look very new and the potential of the men’s team, which seems to be growing every year, is incredibly positive.
LG: How was your own performance in your opinion?
JE: My role was a bit different this time around. I was in the top group of experienced players in the team. This meant I had to help, support and guide the younger, less experienced players in these Test matches. My performance was really consistent, I thought, with a Man of the Match Award to show for it against Belgium. I believe we have a stronger group of players this year and it means that the consistency and hard work will only bode well for me in the next year or so.
LG: What’s next for Jethro Eustice this year?
JE: Both of the indoor and outdoor sides’ schedules are busy this year. I have a massive schedule for both trades, so it will be a year of full commitment and hard work to be the best in the world. As outdoor goes, we have a summer series against Germany and England at the end of February and early March. This leads towards the Premier Hockey League (PHL) again in June, as well as the Hockey World League Round Three semi-finals to be held at the Randburg AstroTurf in July. As indoor goes, the African Cup of Nations has been set for June and it looks like Namibia and South Africa are the only nations taking part. This means that the South African indoor teams have a good chance of qualifying for next year’s Indoor Hockey World Cup in Berlin in February.
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