Guschkie Top Schools kicks off on Thursday
The Guschkie Top Schools hockey tournament gets underway on Thursday, at Grey College, in Bloemfontein.
Northwood, who went back-to-back as champions in 2023 and 2024, will not be defending their title. They’ll be down in the Western Cape, facing Paul Roos Gimnasium and SACS.
Grey College, the runner-up to the Knights in the past two years, will be focused on taking full advantage of their home turf.
They’re in Pool A where they’ll face their local rivals, St Andrew’s School (Saints), Hoërskool Garsfontein, Hoërskool Montana, Worcester Gimnasium, and Hoërskool DF Malan.
Greys campaign starts against Worcester Gim at 10:00 on Thursday morning. Then, they’ll face DF Malan at 16:00. With successive victories, the Bloemfontein boys could place themselves in a strong position to challenge for the title.
Saints, meanwhile, will open the tournament bright and early at 08:00 with a very interesting match-up against Hoërskool Garsfontein. The Pretoria side has enjoyed a solid season, which included a fourth-place finish at the Hibbert Shield. They’ll bear watching.
St Andrew’s, meanwhile, will be back out on the turf against DF Malan at noon. Worcester Gim and Garsfontein meet at 14:00.
Victories on the opening day will be crucial for teams’ prospects of challenging for the title.
Pool B features Paarl Gimnasium, Die Hoërskool Menlopark, Hoërskool Eldoraigne, Hoërskool Jim Fouché (JF), and Somerset College.
Paarl Gim appears to be the team to beat. Earlier in the season, they made it through to the final of the Hibbert Shield, the toughest tournament in the country, and later held SACS, to their only draw of the season thus far. Gim also beat Grey College 4-2 in Bloemfontein in April. That makes them serious title contenders.
Gimmies open their campaign against Menlopark before facing a familiar foe in Somerset College. Menlo will return to the pitch at 15:00 for a showdown with Eldoraigne, another Pretoria side whose national profile is growing.
Bloemfontein’s Jim Fouché, another school whose hockey programme has made big strides in recent years, tackles Somerset College at 17:00.
The action concludes with the playoffs on Saturday, starting at 09:00 with the ninth-place playoff. The other placement games will follow until the final, at 13:00, after which a new champion will be crowned.
FIXTURES
Thursday, 7 August
Pool A
08:00- Saints v Garsfontein
10:00- Worcester v Grey
12:00 – DF v Saints
14:00 – Garsfontein v Worcester
16:00 – Grey v DF
Pool B
09:00 – Paarl Gim v Menlo
11:00 – Eldo v JF
13:00 – Somerset v Paarl Gim
15:00 – Menlo v Eldo
17:00 – JF v Somerset
Friday, 8 August
Pool A
08:00 – Saints v Worcester
10:00 – Garsfontein v Grey
12:00 – Worcester v DF
14:00 – Saints v Grey
16:00 – DF v Garsfontein
Pool B
09:00 – Paarl Gim v Eldo
11:00 – Menlo v JF
13:00 – Eldo v Somerset
15:00 – JF v Paarl Gim
17:00 – Somerset v Menlo
Saturday 9, August
9:00 – Play off (9/10)
10:00 – Play off (7/8)
11:00 – Play off (5/6)
12:00 – Play off (3/4)
13:00 – Final
