With just a few days to go until the Grand Finals of the SPAR KZN School Girls’ Hockey Challenge, ten teams are hard at work preparing for the tournament on 23 and 24 July.
The teams that have made it through to the Grand Finals, having won their regionals, are Amanzimtoti High School (Durban South); Ashton International College (Durban North); Durban Girls’ College (Durban Central); Grantleigh College (Northern Coastal); King Edward High School (Southern KZN); Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School (Pietermaritzburg Central); Sarel Cilliers (Newcastle); St Anne’s College (Pietermaritzburg North); St Mary’s DSG (Highway) and Wartburg Kirchdorf (Umvoti, uThukela and Umzinyathi).
“The fixtures for the finals have been consolidated into one venue i.e. St Mary’s DSG as opposed to two venues in previous years.” stated Tournament Director, Les Galloway.
Continuing, she said, “With only one venue being used, the vibe should be great with all the 10 teams being able to watch and support all matches and, together with all of their supporters, it should make for a very festive weekend!”
The finals will kick off with pool games on Saturday and cross pool games, play-offs and the medal games on Sunday. A new scoring system will be used to calculate positions on the logs. A win will be awarded four points, a draw with goals equates to two points, a goalless draw amounts to one point and a loss zero points. Pool games will be 20minutes long and the play-offs will be half an hour with a change of sides at fifteen minutes.
In Pool A, defending champions Durban Girls’ College take on host school, St Mary’s DSG, newbies Sarel Cilliers High School, King Edward High School and Grantleigh High School. In Pool B, last year’s silver medalists Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School make their sixth appearance and this year will take on St Anne’s DSG; Ashton International College; Amanzimtoti High School and Wartburg Kirchdorf High School.
MD for SPAR KZN, Rob Philipson said, “We look forward to the finals this year, welcoming both old and new players and teams. We are in for a cracker of a weekend, with some high quality skills being expected on the turf. I would like to officially wish all teams, coaches and umpires the very best of luck for the big weekend!”
Umpires who have been invited to officiate are Angelique Kellerman; Ansie Joubert; Grant Bowles; Nuduzo Martin Mchunu; Sibu Ndlovu; Marie-Lee Visser; Michelle Cogle; Nonhlanhla Shezi; Pam Daniel and Xolani Majola.
The first game is St Mary’s vs Grantleigh, followed by two out of towners with King Edward High School taking on newcomers, Sarel Cilliers High School.