School girls hockey regional takes to the field this weekend
Usually the largest regional, the tournament has slimmed down with the notable absence of Kuswag High, who won the inaugural tournament in 2011.
KICKING off the second term with a sporting bang, first girls’ hockey teams from the southern areas around Durban are preparing for the annual Durban South regional of the SPAR KZN School Girls’ Hockey Challenge which takes place on Saturday, 9 April at 3 Schools Trust.
Hosted this year by Kingsway High School, the tournament has eight schools from the Amanzimtoti, Bluff, Montclair, Queensburgh and Umbilo areas competing.
Usually the largest regional, the tournament has slimmed down with the notable absence of Kuswag High, who won the inaugural tournament in 2011.
Defending champions, Amanzimtoti High will join Werda Hoërskool; Grosvenor Girls High; Queensburgh High School and Queensburgh Girls High School; New Forest High School and Brettonwood together with host school, Kingsway High School.
“We are looking pretty good this year – a lot of youngsters are coming through which is fantastic. I would say overall our team is looking promising at this stage of the season. Our main competition on the day is host school, Kingsway, then Queensburgh High who are in our pool,” said bubbly Amanzimtoti High School coach, Shanna Hughes.
“We have just completed our indoor season and we didn’t fair too badly – we won three and lost four games so there is room for improvement, but it wasn’t a terrible result. The girls would have had three fixtures before the SPAR tournament. They competed in the big Voortrekker Festival, travelled down to Cape Town for the Maties training camp and then the Crawford tournament last week, so we should have settled as a team by the time the SPAR tournament comes about.”
All games are a quick-fire 15 minutes one-way game, and the teams are divided into two pools. At the end of the pool games, the top four teams will play a semi-final with the two top clashing it out in the finals.
“We are looking forward to this regional,” said tournament director, Les Galloway. “So far, this year, we have seen some fabulous hockey being played, but besides what goes on the field, we are also witnessing a truly wonderful sporting festival which is attracting more spectators and supporters.”
“Now in its sixth year, this school girls’ tournament has really come into its own,” said MD of SPAR KZN, Rob Philipson. “We enjoy seeing the tremendous energy and effort that all the teams put into their matches to make it a great day of hockey for both players and spectators.”
The winner of the Durban South regional will join confirmed teams Sarel Cilliers, newcomers from the Northern KZN regional along with Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School and St Anne’s College from the two Pietermaritzburg regionals. Another six teams will secure their spaces in the remaining regionals that are still to be held around KwaZulu-Natal.
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