annual SASHOC National Week Last Wednesday, the U16 event ended. University of the Free State In Bloemfontein.
In section A, Volland u16 For boys, Eastern Province After regulation time in the final ended with the score at 2-2, the penalty shootout decided the score 1-0.
The winner of the women's division is Eastern Province Awon by a narrow margin Boland A They won 1-0 and claimed their first national title since 2017.
A week earlier, the Western States boys and girls teams won championships. u13 title.
last month, Western Province u18A The men's team successfully defended their title, defeating Boland 3-2 in the final. South Gauteng In the women's competition, they won the gold medal by defeating Northern Gauteng 4-3 on penalties after the two teams were tied at 2-2 after regulation time.
The action in the Free State was exhilarating, u14 Event Held in Johannesburg South Gauteng The men won gold medals and the women KZN Coast.
It was four captivating weeks of hockey featuring some of the best school athletes in the country.
One man was pleased with Shaw's talent. South African Schools Hockey (SASHOC) Mr. President, Wendell Domingoattended all the events in Bloemfontein and experienced the action first hand.
After the tournament he spoke to us in an exclusive interview: Super Sports School Plus Hockey writer, Abuir Saura.
In it, he spoke about the growth of the sport, how teams can look to the top regions to learn lessons about preparation, and also looked ahead to next year's tournament.
2024 was a success
Domingo began by declaring the 2024 Games a success.
The U14 tournament was held on a regional basis for several years, but was reintroduced as a national competition. Jeppe Boys High School and Edward VII It will be held during the holidays.
Meanwhile, Bloemfontein hosted the U-13, U-16 and U-18 events for the second year in a row.
“Our event seems to get better every year, which is great,” Domingo said. Super Sports School Plus.
“The standard of hockey has improved from two or three years ago and we are also pleased that our community has embraced our plans for the future.”
“We started eight years ago trying to change the game and give everyone a chance to participate. The team is happy, there is camaraderie among the players and our future seems in safe hands.”
How to better prepare your team
In the U18 event, the Western Province boys team stood a step above the rest, finishing the tournament unbeaten despite being pushed by a tenacious Boland team in their second meeting with their neighbours during SASHOC National Week.
The shutout record was a repeat of the feat achieved by the 2023 Western States team and also a third consecutive gold medal for the state.
Boland, who placed fourth in 2023, came runners-up this time, while KZN Coastal A won the bronze medal for the second year in a row.
The three teams taking on the challenge were Southern Gauteng A, Northern Gauteng A and KZN Inland A.
Meanwhile in the women's competition, Southern Gauteng A were unbeatable but were no less strong than Northern Gauteng A and KZN Coastal A, who claimed silver and bronze medals.
Domingo said the performance of these teams is a testament to the hard work of the region, adding that having players participate in club hockey will help them further develop.
“Western Province, Boland and some of the key areas seem to be moving in the right direction,” he said.
“They start preparing their players towards the end of the year every year and when they come back to compete you see the players are more prepared and in better shape.”
“We also found that players who play in local club hockey leagues are much more mature than those who only play for school.
“The difference is clear, which is why regions need to prepare their athletes in advance, not just a month or two before the event.”
Bringing the game to a wider community
Currently, hockey in South Africa is mainly played in private and Model C schools, something SASHOC wants to rectify, Domingo said.
While hockey is the fastest growing school sport, there is room for improvement, he said, and SASHOC is on a mission to work with its partners to expose more of the community to the sport.
“What we've done as SA Hockey over the last few years is we've launched what we call a modified hockey program,” he explained.
“The program is focused on taking hockey to areas where it has never been played before and leaving a hockey footprint in every district in the country.
“Of the 52 districts, [hockey in] Currently, there are 370,000 people playing hockey, and the goal is to popularize the sport. Currently, hockey is played in a quarter of the 23,000 schools, and the hope is that hockey will become even more popular there.
“In terms of development, it has to happen in the schools and the club system. As an organization, we can't necessarily develop players. We don't have the budget.”
“We have programs in place and, with the cooperation of the Sports Department, we are doing everything we can to not only bring attention to the game but also encourage players to become goalkeepers.”
Looking to the future
For the past two years, SASHOC National Week has been held in the cold weather of Bloemfontein.
Domingo suggested that new locations for the event may be considered, as SASHOC policy allows for events to be held in different regions.
He went on to say that in the future SASHOC is considering combining the U-13 and U-14 events at one venue, and doing the same for the U-16 and U-18.
“We also held this event in Bloemfontein last year and our intention was always to give the region a two-year period to correct and improve on the previous year's mistakes,” he said.
“We have a tender system in place, we will dispatch events and announce next year’s event locations at our Annual General Meeting (AGM),” he concluded.
Avuyile Sawula is a multimedia sports journalist, announcer and writer. He holds a diploma in Journalism from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. In the media industry, he has worked for various online media publications covering various sporting codes. He has also worked as a news journalist for one of the commercial radio stations in Cape Town and has a background in broadcasting. He has covered hockey, rugby, water polo and cricket among others. Apart from writing, he has a knack for sports content creation and video editing.
