![](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2019/06/22lmmary_76169.jpg)
ST Mary’s DSG Grade 12 learner, Cailynn den Bakker is its SPAR Star of the Month.
Caily, as she is more affectionately known, is a vital team member of the St Mary’s 1st Hockey team and is also 2019’s vice-captain. She visited St Mary’s DSG while playing for Middelburg High School and fell in love with the school.
The wheels were set in to motion and in Grade 9 she joined the St Mary’s family and the Saints 1st team. Her hockey career has gathered momentum and now represents Kearsney Hockey Club 1st Ladies teams for indoor and outdoor, has represented KZN Coastals in the Mynahs Ladies 2nd team and the Raiders Ladies 1st team at inter-provincial tournaments (IPT) for indoor and outdoor. She was also selected as a member of the Emerging SA Indoor Squad, that will take on Botswana and Zimbabwe in June, and has been selected to compete in the South African U16 and U17 teams.
Highlights while playing for Saints 1st Team include winning the SPAR KZN Regional Hockey Tournament three years in a row, winning at the St Mary’s Waverley Hockey Tournament in 2018, and the school tour to The Netherlands and the United Kingdom in 2018.
Cailynn started playing hockey when she was six years old and her goal is to one day play for SA Ladies team. In 2020 she plans to travel and play hockey for a club in the Netherlands. Following that, she has considered a future in sports psychology.
Cailynn’s role model is Kelly Reed nee Madsen (2006 Old Girl) who is the current St Mary’s 1st team hockey coach, and a retired SA Indoor and Outdoor hockey player.
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