The Varsity men’s hockey tournament will start this weekend with a repeat of the 2016-final when Tuks takes on the University of Johannesburg (UJ) at Wits.
UJ won that encounter two years ago and are the defending champions. The Joburg team went on to beat Tuks in the 2016 USSA-final also.
Hendrik Kriek who played for Tuks in both games is quietly confident that they might be able to revenge those defeats this time around. He is however realistic saying that Varsity Hockey can be very unpredictable.
“Each team has a realistic chance to win. It is going to boil down to who can keep its cool in pressure situations and make the least mistakes. As far as Tuks is concerned the 2016 finals are done and dusted. What happened two years ago counts for nothing. We anyway got a whole new team, so there is no historical baggage,” said Kriek who completed his BCom accounting sciences degree last year.
Being a goalkeeper is a challenge Kriek relishes. He admits there are moments when things get nerve-racking especially when a game ends in a penalty shootout, and the outcome boils down to his abilities.
“Even if you know your teammates won’t blame you, in the end, I can’t help feeling bad if we lost. It hurts. It is the same as when a fly-half misses with a vital penalty attempt in the dying minutes of the game,” he explained.
Kriek said he read a football article where it was speculated that wearing red could be beneficial for a goalkeeper as it seems as if subconsciously players tend to kick the ball towards the red target.
“My favourite clothing as a keeper is red and yellow unfortunately for the Varsity Tournament the organisers decide what colours we get to wear. I will have to play in purple, but I will still wear red pads,” he said.
According to Kriek one of his most important roles during a game is to organise the team’s defence.
“Being right at the back I got the best view of what is happening so I can tell my teammates where to be. But there is always a fine balance. You don’t want to end up being a commander ordering everybody around. That is wrong. I see myself more as an advisor. Once the player is in position, he is skilled enough to know what to do. In the end, it is all about trusting each other’s abilities,” Kriek concluded.
Tuks plays UJ at 13:30 on Friday, May 4. On Saturday May 5 at the same time, Tuks will play Northwest Pukke. Sunday (6 May) at 18:45 they get to play Wits and Monday they 7th of May at 17:00 the Madibaz.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram.
