School hockey trials have been ongoing in the Frances Baard District and will escalate to provincial trials and national tryouts soon
SCHOOL hockey trials have been ongoing in the Frances Baard District and will escalate to provincial trials and national tryouts soon, said prominent schools sports administrator Job Smith.
Smith was reacting to a memorandum by the national schools hockey association which urged school administrators to resume hockey matches, which were suspended due to the Covid pandemic.
Last week, the South African Schools Hockey Association (SASHOC) released its calendar for national and regional competitions, which would see the competitive events making their return after a two-year hiatus.
Smith said: “We have had trials already for schools about a week ago at the hockey astro turf in Cassandra. We plan to host trials for the winter games on May 17 for the district and we plan to host provincial trials on May 28. The national trials for hockey will likely be staged on June 25.”
Smith explained that the hockey trials are routinely staged in the Kimberley area as a large section of players are from here, even though similar facilities such as an artificial turf are also available in places such as Upington.
The Covid pandemic and measures to curb the spread of the virus disrupted the sport, leading to the cancellation of the national and regional schools’ events in 2020 and 2021.
SASHOC announced the dates for this year’s national hockey events, which will see the return of these competitions for the first time since 2019.
To add to the excitement, an international Under-18 boys’ and girls’ series against Namibia will be played during the Under-16 national week from July 8-13.
The memorandum stated: “South African life is returning to pre-pandemic levels after the government lifted the state of disaster, which means young players will once again have unfettered access to the hockey fields.”
“SASHOC is delighted to publish the dates for the 2022 season and look forward to successful events being hosted around the country,” said chairperson Wendell Domingo.
SASHOC will stage national and regional events during June and July. The Boland will be the setting for the Under-18 and -16 national events for both boys and girls.
The Under-18 events will run from June 26 to July 1, while the Under-16 competitions will be hosted between July 8-13.
The regional events will be held for Under-12, -13, -14, -16 and -18 age groups across the country.
