Nothing sheepish about Spar KZN Regional Hockey Tournament
"Each regional tournament has its own colourful character, and the Northern KZN Regional most certainly does. The day is a wonderful experience. A fond memory from last year's tournament was an unexpected encounter, meeting a fluffy mascot, Tjoppies, a sheep dressed up in his team's colours, with a top hat and long socks. It is heartwarming to see families and pets come out in force to support a healthy outdoor lifestyle."
ELEVEN schools are confirmed for the first regional of the Spar KZN Regional Hockey Tournament taking place at Hoërskool Pionier on Saturday, February 21.
Competing in the Northern KZN Regional are host school, Hoërskool Pionier, along with Amajuba School; Dundee High School; Hoërskool Ferrum; Newcastle High School; Pongola Academy; Sarel Cilliers; St Dominics Academy; Utrecht High; Vryheid High School; and Vryheid Landbou.
The dominators, Ferrum High School, have won the regional title for the last four years. In the previous regional tournament, the compact team kept an entirely clean score sheet with no goals being registered against them. Ferrum will be looking to make it a handful of appearances at the finals in July.
Hoping to better their previous year’s performance, second place Pongola Academy did well in the 2014 regional final, keeping Ferrum to a 0-0 draw, but were unable to clinch the deal in the rolling penalties.
Another aspect of the tournament is developing the most important people on the pitch, the umpires. At the end of each regional, the ‘Most Promising Umpire’ will be selected and invited to officiate at the grand finals, where they will get invaluable coaching from top qualified umpires.
MD for Spar KZN, Rob Philipson commented, “Each regional tournament has its own colourful character, and the Northern KZN Regional most certainly does. The day is a wonderful experience. A fond memory from last year’s tournament was an unexpected encounter, meeting a fluffy mascot, Tjoppies, a sheep dressed up in his team’s colours, with a top hat and long socks. It is heartwarming to see families and pets come out in force to support a healthy outdoor lifestyle.”
Tournament Director, Les Galloway continued, “Now in our fifth year, it is always a pleasure starting the tournament in Newcastle. We have great fun up in these parts. The teams are all eager to get the ball rolling, and so are we. Good luck to each and every one of you participating this year.”
For more info, like the Facebook page or follow the tournament on Twitter.
Photo by Sophie Thompson
