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.    

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

September 1, 2016 Hockey World League Round 1 continues to offer route to hockey glory The next series of Hockey World League Round 1 events are about to get underway as Glasgow (Scotland), Antalya (Turkey) and Accra (Ghana) prepare to host their respective events. Teams from across the world will be looking to make their mark over the next few weeks as they begin their quest to qualify for the Hockey World League Finals in 2017, and the Hockey World Cups in 2018. Before that their focus must be on qualifying for Round 2, thereafter the Hockey World League Semi-Finals await the top performing teams. Vital International Hockey Federation (FIH) Hero World Ranking points will also be on offer to those participating, and could prove crucial in terms of qualification for future events. In Glasgow five men’s teams will be doing battle to secure a spot in Round 2 – Wales, Portugal, Slovakia, Switzerland and the home nation, Scotland. The tournament starts at 17:00 (BST) on 6 September and takes the form of a round-robin competition. The opening match will be between Wales, who are ranked 36 in the FIH Hero World Rankings, and Portugal who sit at 41. For Welsh coach Zak Jones and his men, this event is a chance for Wales to compete on the global stage and demonstrate that the national association’s strategy 360 – taking a holistic approach to player development – is beginning to deliver results. Scotland come into the event as favourites. They are ranked at 28 and also have home advantage on their side, but they will be pushed by Switzerland, their opponents in the first game, who are ranked two places below them and have been working hard to improve upon their Hockey World League Season Two performance. Then they came fifth in their Round 2 group in South Africa in 2014. Switzerland has a new coach in Chris Fust, who was previously coach to the Czech Republic, and in the past few weeks the team, has played a three-match series against Chile, where they won two and drew the other game. Slovakia are the unknown quantity. Ranked 50 in the FIH Hero World Rankings, this is their second foray into the Hockey World League and they will be hoping the goal scoring brothers Martin and Frantisek Cernansky are on form. The Glasgow event will run from 6-11 September with the top two teams progressing to Hockey World League Round 2. Antalya is one of the other Hockey World League Round 1 events taking place in the next few weeks. The event runs from 9-11 September and is also a round-robin event. The participating teams are Austria (FIH Hero World Ranking 22), Oman (31), Qatar (68) and Turkey (45). The winning team in Antalya will secure qualification for the Hockey World League Round 2. While Austria will be out and out favourites to take the title, these are all teams who have been developing at pace in the past few years as they have embraced the ideals of the FIH Hockey Revolution, bringing higher levels of professionalism to their game. In Season Two of the Hockey World League, Austria made it all the way to the Semi-Finals in Buenos Aires, Argentina and will have the benefit of that experience to draw upon. Long serving players Michael Korper and Benjamin Stanzl will be hoping to lead their team all the way to the Hockey World League Semi-Finals again during this series. The third Hockey World League Round 1 event taking place is a joint men’s and women’s event at Accra in Ghana. This takes place from 9-11 September. Again, the winner of each event will progress to Hockey World League Round 2. Ghana, Kenya, Namibia and Nigeria are sending men’s teams to the event, with all those teams except Namibia also competing in the women’s event. If the African Hockey Championships in 2015 are anything to go by, the competition will be fierce. Ghana is a nation that has been driving hockey forwards through its involvement in the FIH West Africa Targeted Assistance Programme (TAP). The women’s team in particular benefited from spending two weeks at Bisham Abbey, working with England Hockey in 2015. But, as the continental championships demonstrated, Kenya are hard on Ghana’s heels in both the men’s and women’s game, while the hard-working Nigerians will not give up until the final whistle. In terms of FIH Hero World Rankings, the men’s teams are ranked as follows: Namibia (78), Nigeria (53), Ghana (43) and Kenya (38), while the women are ranked: Nigeria (62), Kenya (40) and Ghana (29). This is the second international event hosted in Ghana. A Hockey World League Round 1 event took place here back in 2012 and the country’s ability to host an international event is a mark of how far the country has progressed in a short while. Such global development is at the heart of the FIH 10 Year Strategy, the Hockey Revolution. To follow the events, visit: Glasgow, Scotland – Men Accra, Ghana – Men Accra, Ghana – Women Antalya, Turkey – Men #HWL2016 #MakeYourMark