SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge
Northern KZN Regional
Pionier High School: Saturday 29 February
Getting a jump on the hockey year, the tenth SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge gets underway with the first of its ten regionals taking place at Hoërskool Pionier on Saturday 29 February.
The Northern KZN Regional hosts eight first teams from its expansive outlying areas. The teams will be split into two pools, with the host school having a tough task taking on one-time winners, Sarel Cilliers who placed second overall last year; Dundee High School will hope to improve on their fourth from last year and Vryheid Landbou which makes a welcome return to this tournament, in Pool B.
In Pool A, defending champs Ferrum High School hope to retain their dominance in this regional, with eight crownings out of nine regional tournaments. The tight outfit will meet St Dominics School who finished in third last year. Rounding off the teams in this pool are Vryheid High School and Newcastle High School.
Games lasting 20 minutes one way will take place on one field. A win in the pool games will earn a team 4 points, a draw with goals notches up 2 points, a goalless draw only 1 point and zero points for a loss.
Tipping off the 100th overall tournament, defending champs Ferrum High School will match up against St Dominics School at 7.30am. Next to square off are Vryheid High School versus Newcastle High School. The third pool game will be the 2016 regional winners, Sarel Cilliers who take on Dundee High School. Pionier will meet Vryheid Landbou in their first match of the day.
After 12 games of action-packed skills, the tournament proceeds to a cross pool play-off. The positional games begins with the seventh and eighth play-off, rolling into the first semi-final at 13.25. Twenty minutes later the second team to earn a spot in the regional final will be revealed after the second semi-final. The fifth and sixth placed game will give the four top teams a breather before the penultimate third position game followed by the concluding regional final.
If scores are level in the semi-finals, third and fourth place game and the regional final, the game will be decided by a three players penalty shoot-out.
The SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge heads to the coast for the Durban Central Regional hosted by Durban Girls’ College on Saturday 7 March followed by the Durban North Regional taking place at Ashton International College in Ballito on Sunday 8 March.
For more info like the tournament’s Facebook page or follow the tournament on Instagram.