Parel Vallei girls heading in the right direction
The Parel Vallei (PV) High School girls’ first-team hockey side has enjoyed a rewarding and successful couple of weeks under the tutelage of head coach Wayne Coetzee.
The girls from Cape Town kicked off the second term with a resounding 4-1 victory away from home over DF Malan this past weekend.
It was their first outing since they claimed top honours at the Courage Cup, which was hosted by Kingsmead College, in Johannesburg, earlier this month.
In an all-Cape Town final, PV defeated Reddam House Constantia 2-1 on penalties to lift the title. With that win, they booked themselves a spot at next year’s St Mary’s Waverley Hockey Festival.
It was crucial for coach Coetzee’s side to quickly put their holiday campaign behind them and shift their focus to the clash against DF Malan.
Recent history shows that PV has had the upper hand on DF Malan, and that dominance continued on Friday night as they scored four times, through Nikita Sulivan, Eva Blaauw, Roxy Setzkorn, and Skylar Bougaard.
PV was also solid at the back, despite conceding a goal, and it was a testament to the work they’ve put in during the pre-season.
Reflecting on the game, coach Coetzee said he’s happy with the progress made by the side in the last couple of weeks, but there’s a lot to improve on.
“The girls have grown from strength to strength in their game, physically and mentally,” Coetzee told SuperSport Schools Plus.
“Against DF Malan, we stayed calm and grew in the game and played some expansive hockey at stages, which allowed us to enter their circle from all sides.”
PV plays coach Mark Landman‘s Paarl Girls’ High side on Wednesday.
Girls’ High shared a 1-1 draw with Springfield Convent School on the weekend, with Lisa Craven finding the back of the net for them.
They are a dangerous and unpredictable side, and coach Coetzee has identified areas Parel Vallei needs to attend to before the meeting.
“We need to keep building on the positive moments that we create. A key focus will go into our PC attack and nine-yard scoring,” he said.
