Player Profile: Kian Cambier (Grey High School)
When Kian Cambier leads his team into battle against Selborne College on Friday night at the Rectory Astroturf, it will be the captain’s final match for Grey High School, and it will bring to an end an illustrious schoolboy hockey career.
Cambier, who joined Grey in grade four, has been one of the most impressive players at the school, which boasts a rich hockey pedigree, in recent years.
He made his first team debut in 2022, in grade nine, and since then has played a pivotal role for the side on and off the turf.
His outstanding performances this season, both from a playing and leadership perspective, have helped Grey lay claim to being among the top handful of teams in the country in 2024.
Under the leadership of head coach and Director of Hockey, Andrew Beynon, Cambier has led Grey to some memorable achievements.
They began their campaign emphatically, including going unbeaten at the Nomads Festival, which was, ironically, matched by Selborne, their opponents on Friday night. To date, despite playing a tough and busy schedule, they have lost only four matches the whole year.
Those defeats came against the top two teams in the country, Paul Roos Gimnasium and South African College High School (SACS) twice (one of those was in a penalty shootout in the Hibbert Shield semi-finals), before they were edged 0-1 by Grey College in their annual interschools clash last month in Bloemfontein.
Apart from those defeats, Beynon’s boys, with Cambier to the fore, have been a force to be reckoned with.
They’ve been fierce on attack, scoring bucketloads of goals, while they’ve been rock solid on defence, with SA Schools u17 goalkeeper Kaino Broadhurst securing numerous clean sheets.
Speaking to SuperSport Schools Plus ahead of his last match for Grey, Cambier reflected on an impressive season.
“I would say it has been a successful year,” he told SuperSport Schools Plus. “The team has played a great brand of hockey and has come away with some awesome results.
“Entering this final match, I don’t think we need to do anything differently from what we’ve been doing this whole year.
“Selborne is a good side, but so are we. We will just play our game and back our boys.”
During the course of the season, Cambier has achieved a number of personal goals, making 2024 a year to remember.
Apart from representing and captaining Grey, he also captained Eastern Province u18A at the SASHOC National Week in Bloemfontein.
There, despite EP falling short of the semi-finals, the skipper was in top form, and his performances were rewarded when he was named in the SA Schools u18A team, the only player from the Eastern Cape to achieve that honour.
Soon after the tournament, he was called up to the SA u21 camp in Pretoria. Clearly, head coach Guy Elliot saw something he likes in the midfielder.
“Captaining EP was a dream of mine,” Cambier said. “Unfortunately, we did not get the results we wanted but still played some good hockey.
“I was stoked to make the SA Schools side, and to play alongside the best in the country was a childhood dream of mine that came true.
“I must say, being called up and playing at the SA u21 selection camp was eye-opening to me because of the level of players in that age group. It made me see the game differently but also helped me improve on my own game.”
Cambier, who has earned just shy of a century of caps for Grey, also gave credit to his school, coaches, and his parents for sticking with him throughout his career.
“It has been a great journey; I am a very proud Grey boy.
“I’ve also been fortunate to play under captains like Casey Keevy and Matt Kingston, and coaches like Mazan dos Santos and Andrew Beynon. I have learned so much and improved as a hockey player.
“I’m also excited to end it with a hard-fought battle against our East London rivals, having played against many of them for the past 10 years.
“I would just like to thank my family, especially my dad, for helping me pursue my passion, and also to Grey High for giving me a platform to showcase my talent,” he concluded.
The skipper won’t be the only player bidding farewell to the Grey faithful on Friday night.
Seven of his teammates – Caden Skinette, Xander Elkington, Marco Giaconi, Ben Ristow, Blake Muller, Robbie Stow, and Caleb Humphreys – will also play their final matches before matriculating later this year.
The clash against Selborne College kicks off at 19:15. Catch it LIVE on SuperSport Schools.
Other matches
In other Eastern Cape matches, Hudson Park and Dale College will aim to get back to winning ways.
Last weekend, Hudson hosted Framesby and won 3-0 but on the following day they were hammered 5-2 by Woodridge College. As for Dale, they’ll look to recover from a heavy 0-7 defeat against Selborne.
Meanwhile, Cambridge High School hosts Queen’s College, and Stirling will target a winning finish to the season when they take on Merrifield College.
FIXTURES
16:00 – Hudson Park vs Dale
17:00 – Cambridge High vs Queen’s College
18:15 – Stirling High vs Merrifield College
19:15 – Grey High vs Selborne College
