She’s hardly jaded when it comes to hockey

NORTHCLIFF – Northcliff High School's number one hockey goalkeeper hits 50 matches.

August 1, 2017

Roxy de Villiers 1 minute read

Jade Kimberley has upgraded from a makeshift cricket kit to a complete hockey goalkeeping kit.

In two and a half seasons Northcliff High School’s Jade Kimberley has hit 50 matches and has her sights set on many more.

Kimberley is in matric and is a first team player at the school and holds the title of number one goalkeeper. She has been playing hockey since she was three-years-old and comes from a passionate hockey family.

“My mom played hockey when she was pregnant with me and my dad umpires,” she laughed.

While she has been playing from the tender age of three, she put on her first ‘goalkeeper kit’ in grade six.

“The first kit I played in was a cricket kit. I think the school had to get a chest guard for me from some other sport as well,” she quipped.

Jade Kimberley practices her sliding tackles at the Northcliff High School Hockey Astro.

Kimberley’s favourite keeper is our very own Rassie Pieterse who currently plays for South Africa (SA).

Away from the goal box and on the field, Kimberley scored her first and only goal when she was in grade 8 against Fourways High School.

She said they needed an extra player for the B team and she jumped at the opportunity. During the match, she scored the goal.

Her favourite field player is former SA player Pietie Coetzee.

While Kimberley is at the end of her schooling career, she plans on pursuing not only hockey but sports as a whole and plans to study sports management after her gap year.