A successful hockey program shaped by more than just 11 players on the field
The success of many sporting programs in schools often overrides the hard work that goes behind the scenes to ensure that excellent results are produced week in and out.
That is also the case at Jeppe High School for Boys, a school with a rich sporting tradition founded in 1890 and located in Kensington, Johannesburg.
The boys’ school, which is known for its rugby accolades and for producing World Cup-winning Springbok winger, Sbu Nkosi, and current Blue Bulls director of rugby, Jake White, also prides itself in its hockey program, fielding over 18 teams while remaining competitive against other top schools in the country.
The success of Jeppe’s hockey program, however, besides showing on the field has been orchestrated by the hardworking staff who alongside the Director of Hockey, Bryan Hillock have steered the program in an upward curve.
The school’s motto, “Forti nihil difficilius”, which means: “Nothing is too difficult for the brave” has been a huge driving force for Hillock and those involved.
Speaking to SuperSport Schools ahead of their highly anticipated derby against Pretoria Boys’ High on the weekend, Hillock said he was very proud of the strides made by the program so far this season, outlining growth and consistency as the key drivers.
“We are very proud of the results we’ve achieved this season; it’s been another good year for us right from the u14 to the first team, and our hockey program is going from strength to strength,” he said.
“We’ve added three more teams this year so we’re up to 18 teams now, and from a results point of view, we’ve been impressed.”
“The boys played their sixth derby fixture on Saturday and in all six we have managed to win the fixture, winning and drawing more games than the opposition did.”
Support structures for sports players in Schools have been increasingly on the rise in recent years. Many schools now have conditioning coaches, managers, and mental coaches to help pupils deal with issues on and off the field.
An element that has been executed well by Jeppe is allowing their teaching staff to form part of their coaching locker room, which in return helps in building solid relationships between them and the players/pupils.
The director praised the coaching staff at the school, and parents of the learners, emphasizing how much of a team effort the success of the program has relied on them.
“I think we are quite blessed that we’ve had great continuity over the past five to six years in terms of the staff we have,” he said.
“For me, it all starts with staffing, and we’ve been very blessed with the calibre of coaches that we have. Every team has a coach and a manager, and we are sitting on about 18/19 academic staff that are active in hockey and that’s massive!”
“At Jeppe, it’s more about the boy as a whole and not just the boy as a hockey player and when you have staff that are academic staff and focused on more than results then that helps the development of the boys.”
“We are also blessed to have the support of the parents, the school, old boys, and the hockey patron’s association – parents, without them we wouldn’t be getting the results we’re getting,” Hillock added.
Consistency within the Jeppe first-team squad has been the catalyst in achieving solid results this year. The side coached by Gilbert de Villiers has lost only two matches this season, both coming from tournaments, in the KES festival and Aitken Boden. Lydon Smith is the team’s manager.
Hillock added that he had been evenly impressed by the team, praising their work ethic on and off the turf.
“The first team has been exceptional this season losing only two games, and I must say it’s a good first side.”
“It’s as good as we’ve had in the past 10 years, they’ve achieved some exceptional results, and we are very proud of them as well, their work ethic speaks for itself.”
Jeppe will travel to Pretoria this weekend in what Hillock describes as their “toughest” match of the season.
Looking to continue their fine form, the first team will be counting on the backing of their director and the school at large.
Kick-off between Pretoria Boys’ High and Jeppe is at 10:50 on Saturday.
The teams:
Pretoria Boys’ High: Stewart Pringle, Hashil Lakha, Robert Hassenkamp, Dewald Griesel, Jayden Boshoff, Micah Sonn, David Baxter, Marco Upton, Daniel Manley, Jeron Hugo, Likho Dube, Cameron Davids, Michael Robertson, Ruard Booysen.
Jeppe High School for Boys: Joshua Renders, Neo Chimanyi, Brent Johnson, Ryan Harcourt-Baldwin, Chaz Breytenbach, Kyle Jackson, Jaydon Brooker, Christian Steinmann, Miguel De Jesus, Diahn Alberts-Flynn, Ben Benjamin, Ethan Kapanda, Matthew Morudi, Tyrique Joseph, Biopelo Koloti.
