East London sides get season underway at Ooskus Gimnasium Festival
The 2025 schoolgirls’ hockey season will kick into full gear in East London this weekend at the Hoërskool Ooskus Gimnasium Sports Festival.
The annual event, formerly known as the Grens Festival, will host the town’s best girls’ ho ckey teams from 7-8 March at the Buco AstroTurf in Bunkers Hill.
The pre-season tournament presents coaches with a chance to see their players in action for the first time before the Border Schools Day and Greg Beling Festival later this month.
In attendance will be East London’s three powerhouses: Hudson Park High School, Clarendon High School for Girls, and Stirling High School.
That trio was, by far, the best of the girls’ teams in the Border region in 2024, producing entertaining showdowns when they clashed.
They will be joined by the hosts, along with Lilyfontein School, Merrifield College, Kingsridge High School, Greenpoint, and Hangklip High School, from Komani. Making an early season impression will be on the agenda for those teams.
Hudson, under the tutelage of coach Jerry Snyman, will enter the new season with the bulk of their team from 2024 after they said goodbye to just two players, Tarelle Jones and Nandile Ndava. Four u16 players have moved up to join a squad that should be pretty solid and consistent.
They will, in the early going, however, have to make do without two key players, Busiwe Mayekiso and Melnique Langley, who are both recovering from knee injuries.
In 2024, Hudson played 36 matches, won 27, and lost only seven times. They are expected to impress again.
Stirling, on the other hand, bade farewell to many key and influential players at the end of 2024. Coach Michael Dettmer will be banking on his youngsters to step up this year, alongside newly elected captain Bella Graham.
The experienced Kishka Baartman is another player to keep an eye on, while newbies, Cayleigh Wanckel and Julia Kockett, will be keen to impress for the green and white hoops this season.
Clarendon is another interesting team that could make its mark in the Eastern Cape in 2025.
They’ve undergone significant changes and have a mix of youth and experience in their locker room.
Coach Luaan Sedras bade farewell to eight players last season and has promoted seven youngsters from the u16s. The team has also been bolstered by the return of Caroline Kretzmann from a long-term injury.
Clarendon will aim to draw inspiration from their Spar Challenge triumph last season, in which they defeated Hudson Park in the final in a penalty shootout to win the East London section of the tournament.
Cara Knott is one of their most experienced campaigners and will don the captain’s armband.
Action at the Ooskus Gimnasium Festival begins with a meeting between the hosts and Lilyfontein on Friday at 12:00. Hudson faces Stirling at 13:20 in what should be the match of the day.
FIXTURES
Friday, 7 March
12:00 – Lilyfontein vs Ooskus Gimnasium; 12:40 – Clarendon vs Merrifield; 13:20 – Hudson vs Stirling High; 14:00 – Ooskus Gimnasium vs Hudson 2nds; 14:40 – Kingsridge High School vs Greenpoint; 15:20 – Hangklip vs Hudson 2nds; 16:00 – Merrifield vs Ooskus Gimnasium.
Saturday, 8 March
08:00 – Ooskus Gimnasium vs Hangklif; 08:40 – Stirling High vs Merrifield; 09:20 – Kingsridge High School vs Hudson 2nds; 10:00 – Lilyfontein vs Greenpoint; 10:40 – Clarendon vs Stirling High; 11:20 – Ooskus Gimnasium vs Kingsridge High School; 12:00 – Lilyfontein vs Hudson 2nds; 12:40 – Hangklip vs Hudson; 13:20 – Kingsridge High School vs Clarendon; 14:00 – Greenpoint vs Hangklip; 14:40 – Stirling High vs Lilyfontein; 15:20 – Clarendon vs Hudson.
