SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge 2023 Dates Announced

Having a ball. Dates for the 2023 SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge have been drawn up with the tournament travelling to ten regions in KZN beginning in the first week in March.

The tournament that began in 2011 has fast become a highlight fixture in the schoolgirls’ hockey calendar. Close to 75 high school girls’ first teams will be taking to the various hockey fields around KZN in the tournament’s 13th year. 

Launching the 2023 SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge that tips off next month (March) are Nozipho Mkhize (SPAR KZN’s Advertising & Sponsorship Manager) and Les Galloway (Director of SchoolGirl Sport and Tournament Director). Pic by Val Adamson

The ten regionals will take place over three months early in the year, with a two-month break before the highly contested Grand Finals that will take place at St Mary’s DSG on the weekend of 22 and 23 July. The ten crowned 2023 regional champions will head to Kloof to duel it out on the astro for the highly coveted winning title of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge. The trophy has only three names engraved on it over the ten years that it has been played. They are Durban Girls’ College - Durban Central Regional Winner -2013, 2014, 2015, 2022; St Anne’s College – Pietermaritzburg North Regional Winner – 2011 and St Mary’s D.S.G. – Highway Regional Winner - 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019. 

Building momentum to the Grand Finals, the first regional tournament tips off with defending champions in the Durban North Regional, Our Lady of Fatima welcoming teams on Saturday 11 March at their ‘home turf’, the Riverside Sports Club. Thomas More College hosts the fierce and fiery Highway Regional on Sunday 12 March at their grounds. 

Kuswag Hoërskool opens up the April diary with the Durban South Regional that they will host at the 3 Schools Trust Astro in Glenwood on Saturday 15 April. The following day – Sunday 16 April - Durban Girls’ High School welcomes teams from the Durban Central Regional back to their home ground at the 3 Schools Trust Astro. Heading up the road, teams around Hilton will converge at St Anne’s College for the Pietermaritzburg North Regional on Saturday 22 April. And in the final back-to-back weekend in 2023, the challenge heads down the South Coast to Creston College for the Sisonke and Ugu Regional on Sunday 23 April. 

On Saturday 6 May, St Dominic’s School will see teams from around Newcastle and surrounds taking to their astro for the KZN Northern Regional. The tournament heads inland to Wartburg Kirchdorf School on Saturday 13 May for the uMvoti and oThukela Regional. For the penultimate regional Epworth School hosts the Pietermaritzburg Central Regional on Sunday 14 May. And in its familiar spot, Grantleigh College in Empangeni rounds off the 2023 Challenge with teams partaking in the Northern KZN Coastal Regional on Saturday 20 May. 

For spectators that are unable to get to the side of the pitch, the ten regionals and the Grand Finals will be live streamed by SuperSport Schools on their mobile app or website.

For more info on the tournaments, like the Facebook page, or follow on Instagram. 

ENDS

St Anne's takes top honours in PMB North Regional of SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge

PMB North Regional

St Anne’s College: Saturday 5 March

After a cracker of a day on the turf, the host school, St Anne’s College continued their Midlands dominance as their team raised the PMB North Regional trophy for the tenth time in a row in the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge held on Saturday 5 March, 2022.

The regional final went down to the wire in a nail-biting 25 minutes. Out of the blocks, The Wykeham Collegiate looked the more composed team, settling in early and taking the ball up to St Anne’s circle on several occasions. The visitors were just unable to convert their possession and barrage of attacks into early goals.

It took St Anne’s seven minutes to find their groove as they started to find gaps in The Wykeham Collegiate game. Midway through the final, St Anne’s earned a short corner. In the set piece, the ball was moved to Georgie Leseur who fired in a flick taking Saints 1 goal up. Shortly after their success, St Anne’s were awarded another short corner. TWC stood strong, defending valiantly and managed a quick turn around with a superb counter attack. On the opposite end, TWC got their chance at a short corner. The ball was pushed to the castle, then moved left. After a bit of a mistimed shot, Amy Erasmus who had just injected the ball, was brilliantly on hand to tap the ball across the goal to a waiting Sarah van den Bergh who knocked in the all-important equaliser.

Both teams worked hard as the clock ticked down but were unable to find the back of the net as they desperately attacked in the hopes of eking out a win. The game ended 1 all after full time, with the decider for this regional final moving to the penalty spot.

TWC matched St Anne’s shot for shot during the exciting three rounds of penalty shoot-outs. After the first round, there was nothing in it and the scores were level on 2 all, with the game progressing to a dramatic sudden death round. After a total of nine rounds, six of those in the sudden death, Saint’s Ella Shuttleworth capitalised on TWC’s Ella Hanbury King unfortunate miss, calmly slotting in her shot and claiming victory for St Anne’s after a magnificent, riveting final.

Co-Captain for St Anne’s Bahati Dakile stated after the prize giving, “I think the back to back was definitely challenging, but I think our team really brought it together in the end. We really supported each other. The competition today was great, and everyone played really well. It wasn’t an easy day with everyone doing really well to contest, and I think our team really, really put in the effort. So did everyone else. It was a fun day, lots of excitement and it is so, so great to be back.”

Talking about the epic sudden death rounds, Dakile continued, “That was so nerve wracking to be honest. We tried to switch up our order and make it challenging for the other team. Our goal keeper Sandi, is really young, she is only in grade nine and it is her first big tournament and she really pulled it out the bag. She did her best and it ended paying off at the end of the day.”

St Anne’s coach, Marcelle Keet said, “It was awesome to be out on the pitch after CoViD, after two years of not playing hockey. I think it was a really good standard of hockey throughout this Midlands area. Everyone was competitive in all the games that we played, in our round robin. And then a really tough game against The Wykeham in the first game and it was bound to be a tough final going into the last game. They brought a lot of energy, a lot of good. structured hockey. It is great for the Midlands that these two teams are really competitive, it makes the province even more competitive.”

Talking about the conclusion to the final, she added. "Really proud of the girls. They really dug deep. It takes quite a lot of guts to stand up and do the eight second right at the ends. Both keepers were exceptional and the three girls on either side having to do two rounds of extra time in eight seconds which was absolutely fantastic but that exactly what SPAR wants for the ladies’ hockey, to end off in such an exciting final. It is just an absolute pleasure being back again at hockey and being able to play again at the SPAR Challenge.”

Umpire for the Day was awarded to Nicea Strydom from Voortrekker High School.

This is the tenth time St Anne’s College will represent the PMB North Regional. They are now heading to the Grand Finals, they join newcomers, Pionier Hoërskool who will wave the flag for the Northern KZN Regional. Both teams will meet eight other schools, making up the ten teams who will all do battle over two days at St Mary’s in July.

For more info like the tournament’s Facebook page, or follow on Instagram. All the games will be livestreamed by SuperSport Schools.

Overall results

1 St Anne’s College 20pts; 2 The Wykeham Collegiate 16pts; 3 Howick High School 12pts; 4 Voortreker High School 8pts; 5 Treverton High School 4pts; 6 Grace College 0pts

ENDS

 Photos by Rogan Ward