Police host Greensharks

Kenya Hockey league continues this weekend with several matches expected to be played in Nairobi, Nakuru and Kisumu. African queens Orange Kick off this weekend games as they take on Daystar University. Daystar who have not won a single game this season will be facing a wounded Orange who need to score many goals to stay top of the league since they started they league on a wrong footing. The game of the day will be between Kenya Police and their longtime rivals Greensharks. Police currently are 2nd on the log with Greensharks leading the pool having played 4 games each. The winner of this match will move to the top and both teams are looking to book a slot in next year’s Club Championships. The two matches to be played out of town will be between  Nakuru Sikh hosting Sikh Nairobi on Saturday in Nakuru and on Sunday BAY hosts Strathmore University.    

Indoor Hockey Glory for the KZN Raiders

It’s been a riveting weekend of indoor hockey in Bellville down in the Western Cape. There have been more goals than controversial statements from Donald Trump and as the weekend progressed the quality of the hockey started to experience an upsurge as well. Ultimately it was the expected KZN Raiders who did the job and emerged victorious. After the group stages were completed on Friday, the knock out stages is where the tournament truly begins and the quality of games really backed that statement up.  The Raiders continued on their relentless march in both the women’s and men’s tournament where the victims of their brutally efficient hockey was the WP Pens and Mpumalanga respectively. There was a major upset in the Quarter finals of the men’s tournament as an opening salvo of supreme pace and relentless attack saw the Southern Gauteng “B” Side, known as Wits march to an early lead against the KZN Inland side. It was a lead they would not release and they ended up victors with one of the displays of the tournament. There reward though was a match against the unstoppable Raiders in the Semi-Final where Ryan Hack’s men could not be stopped. It’s been a riveting weekend of indoor hockey in Bellville down in the Western Cape. There have been more goals than controversial statements from Donald Trump and as the weekend progressed the quality of the hockey started to experience an upsurge as well. Ultimately it was the expected KZN Raiders who did the job and emerged victorious. After the group stages were completed on Friday, the knock out stages is where the tournament truly begins and the quality of games really backed that statement up.  The Raiders continued on their relentless march in both the women’s and men’s tournament where the victims of their brutally efficient hockey was the WP Pens and Mpumalanga respectively. There was a major upset in the Quarter finals of the men’s tournament as an opening salvo of supreme pace and relentless attack saw the Southern Gauteng “B” Side, known as Wits march to an early lead against the KZN Inland side. It was a lead they would not release and they ended up victors with one of the displays of the tournament. There reward though was a match against the unstoppable Raiders in the Semi-Final where Ryan Hack’s men could not be stopped. The men’s final was an altogether different affair. Southern Gauteng were the heavy underdogs but started with a bang when Kyle Marks scored from a rebound, the Raiders fought back before a sensational goal by Brandon James gave Southerns the lead again. Raiders, not to be outdone fought back with a great team goal finished off by Greg Last.  After half time the Southerns boys started to tire and the Raiders almost looked to have more energy and raised the game to another level. After taking the lead through inspirational skipper Fairweather and another through Eustice, the Raiders employed a brand of game management that would make the All Blacks proud in seeing it out. The tournament was undoubtedly one of the best indoor IPT’s that we have seen in South Africa, although there is room for improvement. The involvement of PSi in hosting the IPT raised the tournament to a better level and it would make sense if a continued involvement was sought out for them by SA Hockey. In terms of the individual awards the top goalscorers awards were shared in the men’s by Jethro Eustice (Raiders) and Gavin Jelley (Inland), and incredibly shared in the ladies as well by Cindy Hack and Eloise Walters (both Raiders). Matthew Becker did is own national hopes no hurt, by being named keeper of the tournament while Nicole le Fleur won the award for the lady. Lastly it was to player of the tournament which was easily won by Jethro Eustice in the mens tournament. In the ladies tournament Nicole de Vries, who had received stiches on Friday when a mask hit her, was named the player of the tournament. Final Positions Men’s Indoor Inter Provincial Tournament Women’s Indoor Inter Provincial Tournament 1.  KZN Raiders 1.       KZN Raiders 2.  Southern Gauteng 2.       Western Province 3.  Western Province 3.       KZN Mynahs 4.  Wits 4.       Southern Gauteng 5.  KZN Inland 5.       North West 6.  WP Pens 6.       KZN Inland 7.  Eastern Gauteng 7.       WP Pens 8.  Mpumalanga 8.       Mpumalanga Source: SA Hockey Channel  | Date: 17 October 2016

PHL takes SA hockey into a bright new future

Both men’s and women’s hockey broke into new territory in Randburg in September 2016 as the inaugural Premier Hockey League began what most involved feel will be a revolution in the game in South Africa.  The Milo Maropeng Cavemen and the Nestle Pure Life Blyde River Bunters emerged triumphant on 25th September 2016 in gripping finals as the Department of Sport and Recreation backed event came to an end. Six men’s and six women’s teams, playing as franchises that are 100% owned by the South African Hockey Association (SAHA) after a draft system, played each other once in a league stage before the top four teams progressed to the semi-finals, followed by the grand finals.  “It was a definite success and something different for local hockey. To play with young and experienced players all in the same team and from all different provinces, was amazing. Nobody knew each other at first, but if you’re a top hockey player then you need to adapt. The same applies to having different coaches – a lot of our players had never played under coach Lindsey Wright before,” said the captain of the Nestle Pure Life Blyde River Bunters, Nicolene Terblanche, who is also the national women’s captain.  “The PHL was a great success, just ask any of the players and they’ll tell you they wish they were doing this for the last few years. It was well-organised and thanks to SuperSport, the players had the experience of playing on TV and being able to use the video referral system. The only time we’ve had that before has been in international hockey and not a lot of players get to do that. For 16-year-olds, this incredible tournament meant they learnt a lot,” Terblanche added.  “The first season has been really inspirational and a lot of people watched the TV coverage on SuperSport. The PHL is what hockey needs and it was exciting to see it on TV. I hope the tournament grows as it’s the foundation of our future hockey and an opportunity for the national selectors to see more players. Additionally, they got to see a lot of games at good intensity and pressure. It’s one of the best tournaments I’ve played in,” said the captain of the Milo Maropeng Cavemen, Rassie Pieterse.  The veteran Southern Gauteng goalkeeper has played all over the world and won many tournaments, but he said the sheer elation of some of the Cavemen team when they were handed their gold medals brought home another great benefit of the PHL.  “We had a good mix of experience and younger players that bring a lot of energy and that’s important too. For some of the guys from the smaller centres like Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, Stellenbosch, Pinetown and East London, it was the first time they’ve ever won a gold medal because they play for minnows. Hopefully they can take knowledge back to their clubs because now they’ve experienced what it takes to win a tournament,” Pieterse said.  Terblanche was a compelling leader of a very young Bunters side – with an average age of just 21 – and she was similarly inspirational off the field as she handed all the money from her three player of the match awards during the tournament to the fundraising efforts of the national U21 teams as they head off for their junior world cups in India and Chile.  “I’ve been in their shoes before and know that every cent helps, so I decided to donate all my winnings,” Terblanche humbly said.  With opportunities for top competition few and far between for South Africa’s leading players, Terblanche was eager for SAHA to persevere with the exciting PHL concept.  “I really hope this happens every year now. With no major international tournaments for us in 2016, it was absolutely not a nice year for the national players, but then the PHL came along. We all looked forward to it, it was so exciting and the community really got into the swing of it as well with all the posts on Facebook and other social media. “By putting the PHL on TV, it made sure people were talking about it, whenever I went back to the office, my colleagues would ask me about the tournament. So it’s been very positive and I know the players that didn’t play this year are very jealous to miss out,” Terblanche said. Published: 03 October 2016 | Source: SA Hockey

Double Qualification For Ghana Hockey In The Hockey World League Series

The National Male and Female Hockey Teams of Ghana on Sunday 11th September 2016 both booked tickets to the 2nd Round of the Hockey World League Series. The Female team played Kenya in the morning of the Sunday the 9th, and needed a win to qualify, having beating Nigeria earlier in the tournament by 2 goals to nothing. As Kenya is ranked directly behind Ghana, it was sure to be a tough one, and indeed did not disappoint. The Ghanaian ladies started threatening the goal of their Kenyan counterparts early in the game and came very close on numerous occasions to scoring. The game however stayed barren for the most part, creating a very charged and restless atmosphere in the Theodosia Okoh Hockey Stadium. The ladies finally put everybody to rest when Richel Bamfo received a ball and tore past the goalkeeper and an incoming defender to guide the ball into the post in the dying minutes of the game. The ladies had one task after this; to hold on to the lead and that they did to the admiration and excitement of all. With this result, the National Women’s team secured the single slot available to the 2nd round to take place in Spain in February of 2017. In the Men’s game which was the last of the day and for the tournament, Ghana only had to manage a draw to secure their place in the 2nd round as they had beaten Namibia 7 – 1 and their arch rivals Kenya by a lone goal earlier in the tournament. This task that looked very doable in the beginning considering Ghana’s play throughout the tournament, would soon be put in doubt as Nigeria drew first blood about halfway through the first half. It was not until the dying minutes of the game that the Ghanaian team equalized through Emmanuel Ankomah (One Finger). Even though this gave the many Ghanaian supporters some kind of comfort, it was not until Shadrack Baah connected a brilliant pass from Michael Baiden, the Ghanaian International based in South Africa to secure the win, did the fans really breath a sigh of relief. Managing to secure this result meant that the male team would join their female counterparts who had qualified earlier in the day, in the 2nd round of the World League Series to take place in Bangladesh in February. We are so proud of our men and women and wish them the best in their preparations towards to the 2nd round of the competition. Signed: Daniel Kenaz Mensah Sec. Gen.