Cape hockey players and coaches set to star in PHL

THE inaugural South African Premier Hockey League (PHL) took a step closer to becoming a reality, with the official player draft which took place last weekend.

The draft was inspired by American sports leagues, such as the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Football League (NFL). It was a squad selection process that saw the coaches of each PHL team take turns, based on an order sequence drawn out of a hat, to choose from a pool of eligible players.

The inaugural PHL will consist of a men’s and women’s competition and will run over four weekends – from September 3rd to September 25th.

“The player draft system is an exciting new innovation for the PHL and we are sure it will generate much debate amongst hockey fans in this country”, said the South African Hockey Association (SAHA) president Mike Du Plessis.

“The PHL forms a key part of SAHA’s high-performance pipeline which is aimed at better equipping our national teams for international competition.” added SAHA CEO Marissa Langeni.

The 2016 event consists of six men’s and six women’s teams. All matches will be played at the Randburg Astro in Johannesburg.

Both the SA men’s and women’s U21 national teams will be playing as franchise teams such as the Golden Gate Gladiators and the Lip Ice Namaqualand Daisies, respectively. This is to help them prepare for the Junior World Cup that takes place later this year.

Squads will consist of 18 players. The two U21 teams will, however be allowed to select a squad of 20 players.

Both the men’s and women’s PHL competitions will consist of a league stage and a playoff stage. Each team will play each other once in the league stage. This means each team will play five games that stage.

The top four teams in the log will progress to the semi-finals. The losing semifinalists will play-off for third and fourth respectively and the winning semi-finalists will progress to the finals of the men’s and women’s competitions.

The Western Cape is well-represented in the competition with 21 players playing in the five franchise teams and seven players representing the SA U21.

The Garden Route Gazelles have 10 players from the province as well coaches Steve Evans and Lungile Tsolekile pulling the strings.

The local teams are well represented with seven Maties, six Central and five WPCC men’s players selected.

The four-week tournament promises to be a superb spectacle for SA hockey and has the potential raise the standard of sport to unprecedented heights.