‘Hockey heaven’ for local fans
TWO more regional tournaments in this year’s SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge are scheduled for this weekend with the Durban North Regional, to be played off on the Crawford La Lucia Astroturf today followed by the Durban Central Regional at the 3 Schools Trust Astroturf in Glenwood tomorrow.
The Durban North tournament commences at 7am using a round robin format with the top two teams to go directly to the final, while the Durban Central event gets under way at 8am with the teams divided into two pools for a roundrobin after, which the top two teams in each pool go forward to the knock-out semifinals.
Defending champions Ashton International College will be keen to reclaim the title for the fourth time in the seven years’ history of this tournament but they will be hotly challenged by not only Danville Park, previous winners in 2012 and 2014, but also the host school, Crawford College La Lucia, Crawford College North Coast, Reddam House uMhlanga and Our Lady of Fatima Convent School, the inaugural winners of this regional title dating back to 2011.
A battle royal is promised for the Durban Central tournament, with powerhouses Durban Girls’ College aiming to extend their record of having won it ever since the launch of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Challenge in 2011 to qualify for the Grand Finals, to be played at St Mary’s DSG in July.
Durban Girls’ College have been ever present at the Grand Finals, featuring all 10 regional winners, and won gold three times in a row in 2013, 2014 and 2015, silver twice in 2012 and 2016 and bronze in 2011.
Joining them on the Three Schools Trust Astroturf will be arch rivals Maris Stella, St Henry’s, Durban Girls’ High, Hoërskool Port Natal, Inanda High, the INK team (a combined team of players from the Inanda, KwaMashu Ntuzuma districts), and two newcomers to the tourney, Durban Girls Secondary and Rossburgh High.
The first of the Pietermaritzburg schools to qualify for the SPAR Grand Finals were perennial Pmb North winners, St Anne’s Diocesan College, and newcomers St John’s DSG of Pmb Central.
St John’s were dubbed “the Giant Killers” after they toppled perennial Pmb Central winners, Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High, alias the “Green Machine”, with a 1-0 victory in a riveting encounter played on the Epworth College Astro, the all-important goal scored by St John’s striker, Lise le Roux, which secured her team’s place in the Grand Finals.
Coach of St John’s, Lyndal ‘Binks’ Robertson, said: “The attitude our girls showed today was what won us the tournament. They were phenomenal!”
In winning the Pmb North regional title for the sixth time, St Anne’s had a bit of a yo-yo day, starting off with a win against long-time rivals, The Wykham Collegiate.
But they were then held to a 2-2 draw by hosts, Hoërskool Voortrekker, and registered a 3-0 win against Grace College before progressing to a meeting with the surprise package of the day, Treverton, in their final game where they showed true grit and lifted their game, netting three goals without reply.
At each tournament an umpire is singled out and acknowledged as the “Most Promising Umpire”, which resulted in Sibusiso Ndlovu, a Voortrekker High scholar, and the “uber cool” Alana Marais, representing Howick High School, receiving accolades.