Parel Vallei, St Paul’s, and Reddam win big on day one of CTIHT
Reddam House Constantia, St Paul’s College (Windhoek), and Parel Vallei plundered 38 unanswered goals in six matches in the Elite Girls’ section on Wednesday, the first day of the 2025 edition of the Cape Town International Hockey Tournament (CTIHT).
The annual hockey extravaganza features 60 boys’ and girls’ teams, of which 28 are girls’ teams, with 16 sides competing in the Elite section.
The event runs through until Sunday, with matches being played at the Central Hockey Club, Hartleyvale Stadium, Pinelands High School, South African College High School (SACS), the University of Cape Town (UCT), and Western Province Cricket Club.
In the absence of the reigning champions, the trio of Reddam, St Paul’s, and Parel Vallei will fancy their chances of lifting the title this year.
Reddam launched their campaign with a 4-0 win over HMS La Rochelle at UCT on Wednesday morning. Sally Gitlin announced her presence with a brace, and Emma Hibbert and Jessica Bester scored a goal apiece.
Then, Gitlin, Hibbert, and Bester bagged a hat-trick each, and Anna Bredell added a single goal in Reddam’s 10-0 rout of Worcester Gim in their second outing of the day. Those two emphatic victories catapulted Reddam to the top of Pool A.
Their toughest assignment of the group stages will be against second-placed St Paul’s, who also won big on day one. The Namibian side romped to a 10-0 victory over Worcester in their first assignment, courtesy of a five-goal haul from Tamara Grögli, and single-goal contributions from Oyo Hinda, Abigail Rowles, Alice Rowles, Kendyll Mouton, and Jade Eins.
Against HMS La Rochelle, Abigail Rowles struck twice and Leila Grögli once, which lifted her to the top of the goal-scoring chart, with six in total, as the Namibians added a 3-0 win to their record. They trail Reddam by only a single goal on goal difference.
In Pool C, Parel Vallei scored 11 unanswered goals to leap to the top of the standings. They kicked off their campaign by beating Windhoek High 5-0, with goals from Zelda Rosenstrauch, Skylar Bougaard, Roxy Setzkorn, Joané van Geest, and Eva Blaauw.
Next up, they took on the UK’s Kingston Grammar and breezed to a 6-0 victory, courtesy of a hat-trick from Nikita Sullivan, a brace from Skylar Bougaard, and a goal from Liné Liebenberg.
Another UK visitor, Millfield, renowned for their sporting successes, worked their way to the top of Pool B, thanks to a win and a draw in their first two matches. Those results were matched by Paarl Girls’ High, which left them in first place in Pool D.
Millfield fought out a 1-1 draw with Somerset College in the morning and then overcame Outeniqua 4-1 in the afternoon. Paarl Girls, meanwhile, was held to a 0-0 draw with Durbanville High in their first outing before they cruised to 4-0 victory over Hoërskool Bellville in their afternoon match.
Day two of the tournament gets underway with a tantalising clash of the Pool A titans, Reddam and St Paul’s. Worcester Gim will be out to redeem themselves after a tough start to the showpiece when they clash with La Rochelle in the second match of the day.
Results
Pool A
Reddam House Constantia: 4 – Sally Gitlin (2), Emma Hibbert, Jessica Bester. HMS La Rochelle: 0.
St Paul’s College: 10 – Tamara Grögli (5), Oyo Hinda, Abigail Rowles, Alice Rowles, Kendyll Mouton, Jade Eins. Worcester Gim: 0.
Reddam House Constantia: 10 – Sally Gitlin (3), Emma Hibbert (3), Jessica Bester (3), Anna Bredell. Worcester Gim: 0.
St Paul’s College: 3 – Abigail Rowles (2), Leila Grögli. HMS La Rochelle: 0.
Pool B
Outeniqua: 3 – Zanelle Rensburg (2), Zoe Barnard. Windhoek Afrikaanse: 1 – Ciara van Zyl
Millfield: 1 – Margot Earl. Somerset College: 1 – Mia Baumgardt.
Millfield: 4 – Charlie Milsom (2), Delilah Talbot, Emily Franklin-Adams. Outeniqua: 1 – Carlien Oosthuizen.
Windhoek Afrikaanse: 2 – Marlene Coetzee (2). Somerset College: 1 – Evie Benson.
Pool C
Parel Vallei: 5 – Zelda Rosenstrauch, Skylar Bougaard, Roxy Setzkorn, Joané van Geest, Eva Blaauw. Windhoek High: 0.
Kingston Grammar: 2 – Allegra Kelly, Anna Goodsman. Curro Durbanville: 0.
Parel Vallei: 6 – Nikita Sullivan (3), Skylar Bougaard (2), Liné Liebenberg. Kingston Grammar: 0.
Windhoek High: 1 – Jodie Bester. Curro Durbanville: 1 – Marissa Morgan.
Pool D
Durbanville High: 0. Paarl Girls: 0.
Chisipite: 1 – Rebecca Winsor. Hoërskool Bellville: 0.
Paarl Girls: 4 – Lisa Craven, Lucia Marcus, Nika Pretorius. Hoërskool Bellville: 0.
Durbanville High: 0. Chisipite: 0.
