Highway schools battle it out for hockey spot

SEVEN first teams will battle it out for the coveted Highway regional title in the final in the series of regional tournaments of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge at Thomas More College in Kloof on Sunday, 15 May.

Participating schools in this regional are Gelofte, Hillcrest High, St Mary’s DSG, Westville Girls’ High School, Curro Hillcrest, Kloof High and Thomas More College.

Dominating the region – having won four out of five regionals since the inception of the tournament – and back to defend their title is the St Mary’s DSG team, who are hoping to maintain their stronghold. They only lost once to Westville Girls’ High School in 2014.

This regional will take the form of a round robin with each game lasting 20 minutes. At the conclusion of the games, the top two-scoring teams will feature in a final to determine the regional winning side, which will go through to the grand finals at St Mary’s DSG in July.

Tournament director, Les Galloway, said this is always an interesting regional, with some strong teams really getting down to some competitive playing.

“We welcome newcomers, Curro Hillcrest, to the tournament and look forward to them joining the challenge for the regional title,” said Galloway.

MD for SPAR KZN, Rob Philipson, said as the regional bouts of the tournament conclude, he can reflect on how valuable the tournament continues to be in the sporting calendar of schoolgirl hockey in KZN.

“We get such positive feedback from the schools and the players cite this as one of their favourite tournaments in that it offers them an opportunity to really showcase their teamwork and to enjoy a sporting festival event with girls from other schools,” said Philipson.

The winner will meet nine top teams from KZN, eight of which have already secured their positions in the finals.

Another space remains to be filled on Saturday, 14 May from the Umvoti, uThukela and Umzinyathi regions.

So far, Sarel Cilliers from Northern KZN, Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School and St Anne’s from the Pietermaritzburg areas, Durban Girls’ College, Amanzimtoti from Durban South, Ashton International from Durban North and the most recent addition, King Edward High School from the Southern KZN regional and Grantleigh College from the North Coastal regional have all secured their places in the finals.