Hockey draft helps level playing field

Youngsters give champion Cavemen grunt

Ten coaches emerged from the pressure cooker of the player draft with their final teams that will do battle in this year’s edition of the Premier Hockey League (PHL), starting later this month.

In a draft process reminiscent of the NBA and NFL, the coaches did battle for their preferred players. These players filled the remaining eight places after each side was allocated six marquee stars, chosen by the national high-performance panel, to promote a level playing field. Coaches were required to release between four and eight players from their 2016 squads.

Mark Sanders, head coach of the men’s defending champions, Maropeng Cavemen, was a happy man after the conclusion of the draft.

“We’re happy with the 2017 Cavemen,” he said.

Speaking about some of the players he’d managed to snap up, Sanders added: “Thabang Modise, also known as Smiley, plays up here in Joburg at Wits University, and he is an exciting young player. Chad Fucher is also at Wits University and also very exciting. I’m happy. I think we’ve got some good quality youngsters and some fantastic players to help the older guys to retain their heads a bit sometimes.”

Sihle Ntuli, coach of the Drakensberg Dragons, said: “This year all teams have been given six marquee players, which automatically brings extra quality to the teams. This concept is fantastic as some of the younger provincial players find themselves playing in the same environment as some of our senior international players.”

Six men’s and six women’s teams will contest the second edition of the PHL, which gets under way on November 25 at the Randburg Astro in Johannesburg with further action on the following two weekends and the play-offs taking place on 11-12 December.