Garsfontein clinches Pretoria League title for the first time
Hoërskool Garsfontein made history by clinching the prestigious Pretoria G1 League title for the first time, following a nail-biting encounter against Midstream College.
After years of trying, Garsies finally ascended to the top rung of the ladder.
In the final, on Friday, 6 June, coach Charlene Jonsson‘s side brushed aside Midstream, bagging a convincing 3-0 win to lay claim to the title.
After they had won, Jonsson could not contain her excitement: “We are extremely proud of our team, especially because this is the first time that Garsfontein has won the Pretoria G1 league with the 1st team,” she smiled.
“We have come close many years in a row, but we finally crossed the bridge in 2025. This year, we have been fortunate enough to win the league with our 1st and 16A teams,” she told SuperSport Schools Plus.
Winning the title is an exciting and important milestone for Garsfontein. Jonsson credited her team’s consistency and commitment to preparation as key factors behind their success.
“We approached each game and team we had to play with the exact same focus, preparation and intensity when building up to game day.
“We have had many ups and downs this season and could pull from every experience to make this league a successful one. We focused on one match at a time and by doing that we reached our goal that we had set at the beginning of the season.
“We had laid a very strong foundation up until the start of the league and this allowed us to peak at just the right time by following our processes and maintaining our focus where it mattered the most.”
The Pretoria G1 League features many top-tier schools, making it, undeniably, one of the best and most competitive girls’ league competitions on the school calendar. Winning the title ahead of those schools was a big achievement, Jonsson said.
“In my opinion, the Pretoria G1 league is one of the toughest in the country with Garsfontein, Menlopark, Affies, Waterkloof, Midstream, Eldoraigne, Zwartkop, and Montana all participating in the league,” she said.
She applauded her charges for their unity and determination throughout their campaign.
“We have a very strong group of players in the team and everyone, provincial [player] or not, puts in the work, early mornings and late evenings, to help make our programme successful. I can only praise my team for their full commitment and belief in what we are doing.”
Though the league has wrapped up, Garsfontein still has unfinished business. The Pretoria champions are gearing up for a busy post-holiday tournament period.
“After the winter holiday break, we will kick off with the Pullen & Howell tournaments and then fly off to Paarl for the Rising Challengers’ Cup, at La Rochelle,” Jonsson said.
“Unfortunately, we did not qualify for Top 12, but we are very excited to play against top-quality schools from around the country in the Paarl.”
GARSFONTEIN FIRST TEAM SQUAD
Assistant Coaches: Celia Seerane, Kriekie van Wyk
Trainers: Chantelle Potgieter, Chantelle van Tonder
Players: Ashley Retief, Andrea Groenewald, Lenske van Zyl, Megan Folkus, Jana Seebach, Daniella Grobbelaar, Hannah Liebenberg, Mieka Abbott, Moya Reinach, Emma van Rooyen, Anjoné Lourens, Elmien du Preez, Mienke Pieterse, Erné Kotze, Paige Marais, Kristen Baker.
