Collegiate Girls’ High School first hockey team can hold their heads high despite falling to Oranje Meisieskool in a final shootout at the SPAR National All Girls’ Winter Sports and Cultural Festival on Monday.
This is according to first team coach Andrew Beynon, who watched his side come agonisingly close to beating the Bloemfontein outfit, only to lose in the shootout to one of the top girls’ hockey teams in the country.
“We have been in two tournaments now over the last month or so, and for them to make two finals and come so close speaks to the passion and commitment they have been showing both on and off the field,” a proud Beynon said.
He said the team fared particularly well in the festival held at Clarendon High in East London, where they had gone unbeaten all the way to the final.
Grouped this weekend with Danville Park, Kingsridge, Rustenburg and Saint Michael’s, the girls showed their class, going through the pool stages unbeaten.
In the knockout stages they met Paarl, who they beat 3-0, before edging Rhenish in the semi by a single goal.
In the end, though, they were edged 2-1 by the Bloemfontein side in the shootout.
They also participated in the St Mary’s Waverley Investec tournament in Johannesburg last month, where they again showed their class on the Astroturf by making it to the final.
But there too they fell short, going down 2-0 to St Mary’s Kloof in a another shootout.
Filled with a mix from grades 10, 11 and 12, the girls have spent the better part of 18 months playing together and this has played a vital role in them understanding each other both on and off the field.
Beynon, who is also the school’s head of hockey, said the team put in at least three sessions of training a week with the addition of a morning conditioning session.
Their next assignment will be the Reunion Weekend next weekend, and they are also hoping to qualify for the FNB Super 12 Hockey tournament in August.
According to school sports website SA School Sports, Collegiate are ranked as the fifth-best team in the country.
But with the latest rankings due for release this week, they could move up a few places.
