Big guns dominate Parel Vallei Hockey Festival
Parel Vallei High School, Paul Roos Gimnasium (PRG), and Paarl Gimnasium completed a clean sweep of their opposition at the Parel Vallei Hockey Festival in Cape Town over the weekend.
The three sides were in action for the first time in 2025 and put on a show, which suggests another entertaining season of top-class hockey awaits in the Western Cape.
The hosts, led by coach Michael van Rensburg, entered the festival aiming to fine-tune their structure and systems while also impressing their supporters.
They got off to a wonderful start, dominating their opponents, Hoërskool Hermanus, 6-1, on the opening day.
Parel Vallei’s good form continued on the second day with a convincing 3-1 win over Worcester Gimnasium, which they followed with a 4-2 defeat of Outeniqua in their last outing.
The three victories on home soil mean Parel Vallei will face Bishops (Diocesan College) in a mid-week clash brimming with confidence.
Following that, they will turn their focus to the Belgotex Sport Coastal Cup, which takes place in Durban at the end of March.
Paul Roos is another side that was on song during the two-day event. Coach Michael Baker‘s troops quickly found their rhythm and scored goals with ease in their three matches.
They netted 13 times and, as importantly, returned to Stellenbosch without having conceded a single goal.
Somerset College, Outeniqua, and Reddam House Constantia, who put on a valiant fight, were on the receiving end of PRG’s efforts.
Their next assignments will also be at the Coastal Cup, where they will face Westville Boys’ High, St Alban’s College, Durban High School, and Michaelhouse.
Paarl Gimnasium didn’t sit back and watch their rivals dominate. They, also, got in on the action.
Led by new skipper Juan Swanepoel, they laid on a blistering attack, scoring a whopping 16 goals in their three matches.
A 6-0 victory over Worcester Gimnasium sealed a near-perfect weekend for coach Jacques Grobler‘s players.
They have some tough tests ahead of them., though. Next week, they play in another pre-season festival before travelling to Pretoria for the Founders Hockey Festival, which will be played at Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies) from 28-31 March.
RESULTS
DAY 1
Paarl Gimnasium 5-0 Reddam House Constantia
Paul Roos 5-0 Somerset College
Parel Vallei 6-1 Hermanus
Worcester Gimnasium 3-0 Outeniqua
DAY 2
Paarl Gimnasium 5-1 Hermanus
Parel Vallei 3-1 Worcester Gimnasium
Paul Roos 5-0 Outeniqua
Reddam House Constantia 6-0 Somerset College
Hermanus 1-0 Somerset College
Parel Vallei 4-2 Outeniqua
Paul Roos 3-0 Reddam House Constantia
Paarl Gimnasium 6-0 Worcester Gimnasium
