The Umvoti, uThukela and Umzinyathi Regional of the SPAR KZN School Girls’ Hockey Challenge will take place at Wembley College in Greytown next Saturday, May 13.
The small, yet traditionally very festive regional, sees five schools participating this year in a round-robin format with four times winners Wartburg Kirchdorf defending their title against host school Wembley College, Greytown High School, Deutsche Schule Hermannsburg and Domino Servite. Games will last 30 minutes, with 15 minutes play each way.
The defending champs Wartburg Kirchdorf have been hard at work in preparation for next week’s tournament, “We hosted our own pre-season hockey tournament last term ending in the final against Carter High which ended in a draw,” explains coach Lisa Misselhorn. “And we attended the annual Voortrekker festival in which we won our pool and lost in the final to KEHS. It was a very pleasing result given that we have seven new players on the team.”
“We still have a number of players who have been in the team for a year or two and know the expectations of the tournament,” she continues. “And we are delighted that one of our players Elona Engelbrecht, who is U17, was chosen for the KZN U19 Inland Kites Team, which has been a major boost for the team’s morale.”
“Having won the regional tournament for four consecutive years, we are very aware that the other schools would like to have a turn in winning but we will not go down without giving of our best,” she says. “So, we would like to say good luck to everyone playing, and we look forward to a great day of hockey.”
The victorious team of this eighth regional will join winners from the Ugu and Sisonke Regional, King Edward, Ferrum Skool (Newcastle), St Anne’s College (PMB North), St John’s DSG (PMB Central), Amanzimtoti High School (Durban South), Our Lady of Fatima (Durban North) and Durban Girls College (Durban Central). The remaining two regionals are to be played later this month.