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KES primed for Easter Hockey Festival

By CS Chiwanza , in Hockey | Featured Hockey | News , at 2024-03-27 Tags: , , , ,

 

KES Easter Festival participants, Kearsney College and Rondebosch Boys' High, drew 1-1 at the Founders Festival on 24 March.
KES Easter Festival participants, Kearsney College and Rondebosch Boys’ High, drew 1-1 at the Founders Festival on 24 March.

Johannesburg rolls out its red carpet to welcome 13 of the nation’s top hockey-playing schools to the annual King Edward VII School (KES) Easter Festival, which runs from Thursday, 28 March, to Monday, 1 April.

The festival, which was first held in 2002 and is one of the province’s major school sporting highlights, will be played over four days. There will be no matches on Good Friday.

Six of the 35 games will be played at the St John’s College Astro. The other 29 matches will be contested on the Weinberg Astro, named after one of KES’ famous sons, Sir Mark Weinberg, who turns 93 this year.

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The hosts head into the festival on the back of a six-week pre-season programme that was affected by injuries to three of their core players. Last week, they traveled to the KZN Midlands for the Nomads Festival, where they found the going tough.

“We were met with some serious coastal hockey schools. This has given us the right amount of prep to tick some bigger boxes at the KES Fest,” said Sharmin Naidoo, the KES Director of Hockey.

In their quest to produce good results at home, the KES team will be led by their captain Fynn Campbell, who will be backed up by the talents of Andrew Arouca and Oyena Qwabe.

Campbell leads the hosts’ penalty corner attack team and presents a real threat with his drag flick. Arouca will marshal the defence. He enjoyed an outstanding Nomads Festival with the KES u16 team and has been rewarded with a move up to the first team. Qwabe, who can score from anywhere in the D, will spearhead the KES’ attack.

Red-hot Selborne College will be the team to beat. The Amathole-based outfit heads into the KES event having gone undefeated and untied in the Tony Godding Festival and Nomads Festival. Their captain Tre’ Gilbert will have his sights set on adding to his 14-goal tally.

Grey College will also be eager to give a good account of themselves. The Bloemfontein boys enjoyed a strong Tony Godding Festival, where they won four and lost one, and had a middling Nomads Festival, where they lost two after winning their first three matches.

Jeppe‘s efforts at the Nomads Festival worked the other way around. The lost their first three but finished with back-to-back wins. They’ll be keen to continue banking victories.

Rondebosch, battle-hardened after facing some stiff competition at the Founders Festival, and Waterkloof, who were in action at the Coastal Cup, will also be looking to make a mark on the festival.

Kearsney, who sparkled on their home turf during the Founders Festival, winning three and drawing two, will bear close watching, but the dark horse team to keep an eye out for is Northwood.

The Knights, who enjoyed a strong 2023 season, which included winning the Guschkie Top Schools under-18 Tournament, opened their season with a tour of Argentina and haven’t yet been in action on South African soil, so they will be keen to make a statement.

FIXTURES

Thursday, 28 March 2024

Weinberg Astro

13:00 – Hoërskool Eldoraigne vs Parktown Boys’ High, 14:10 – St John’s College vs Queen’s College, 15:20 – Jeppe vs Hoëskool Waterkloof, 16:30 – King Edward VII School (KES) vs Rondebosch

Saturday, 30 March 2024

Weinberg Astro

07:30 Grey College vs Parktown, 08:40 Selborne College vs St Charles College, 09:50 – Jeppe vs Kearsney, 13:00 – Maritzburg vs Waterkloof, 14:10 Grey College vs Rondebosch, 15:20 – Jeppe vs Hoërskool Eldoraigne, 16:30 – Selborne vs Northwood, 17:20 – KES vs Kearsney, 18:30 St Charles vs Queen’s

St John’s College Astro

07:30 – Maritzburg College vs Queen’s, 08:40 – St John’s College vs Northwood, 17:20 – St John’s College vs Waterkloof

Sunday, 31 March 2024

Weinberg Astro

07:30 – Jeppe vs St Charles, 08:40 – Selborne vs Parktown, 09:50 – KES vs Northwood, 11:00 – Grey College vs Hoëskool Eldoraigne, 13:00 – St John’s vs St Charles, 14:10 – Maritzburg College vs Parktown, 15:20 – Northwood vs Rondebosch, 16:30 – KES vs Hoëskool Eldoraigne, 17:20 – Grey College vs Kearsney

St John’s Astro

07:30 – Maritzburg College vs Rondebosch, 08:40 – Waterkloof vs Queens, 13:00 – Selborne vs Kearsney

Monday, 1 April 2024

Weinberg Astro

07:30 – Selborne vs Hoëskool Eldoraigne, 08:40 – KES vs Queens, 09:50 – Waterkloof vs Northwood, 11:00 – Jeppe vs Rondebosch, 12:10 – St John’s vs Kearsney, 13:20 – Maritzburg College vs Grey College, 14:30 – Parktown vs St Charles

CS Chiwanza
error: Sorry ol' chap, those shenanigans are not permissible.