Player Profile: Anné Prinsloo (Oranje)
There are two versions of Anné Prinsloo. The first is the soft-spoken, good-natured, and humble young woman with a ready smile. Then there is the one you get after the whistle signals the start of a hockey contest; that one is an immovable force of nature.
She’s a wall in defence and a brilliant leader who directs her teammates with clarity and authority.
Prinsloo doesn’t just lead through issuing instructions. She does so by setting an example for others to follow. She won’t ask her teammates to do something that she and her beloved Grays KN10 stick aren’t prepared to do.
It’s the first stick she owned, and she’s had it since 2021. Once, she set it aside because she wanted to try something new. However, no other stick felt quite right in her hands, and she eventually went back to the KN10 in 2023. She serves her team with the same faithfulness her stick has served her.
“She has a kind heart and is an admirable and humble leader. I think her being the captain is a great thing for us because she is such an excellent role model,” Gys van Schalkwyk, the Oranje coach, told SuperSport Schools Plus.
Prinsloo ascended to the captaincy this season, taking over from the inimitable Anriette Otto, with whom she formed an outstanding partnership last year. Stepping into the leadership role seamlessly, Prinsloo has carried the team forward with aplomb.
Her game is reminiscent of a young Antonet Louw. Fittingly, the South African international is her role model in the sport, Prinsloo shared.
“She is a hardworking player. She is an all-rounder, who showcased her talent everywhere her coaches wanted to play her. She is also an Oranje old girl and that makes her a player close to my heart,” Prinsloo explained.
The grade 12 learner has hockey in her genes. Her mother, Suné Prinsloo, was a talented player in her youth. However, instead of pursuing hockey as a player after school, she opted for a different path, transitioning into coaching and also becoming a respected umpire.
Growing up in that environment planted the seeds for Anné’s affinity for hockey. However, love for the game took root in 2021, when Prinsloo enrolled at Oranje in her grade 8 year. She was enamoured with it and that led to a lightning-fast rise through the ranks, so much so that she received her maiden first-team cap two years later.
“The hockey here and where I am from is a little bit different. All the tournaments, all the lessons, and all the people I play with have had a big impact on how I feel about hockey.
“The people I played with, and my current teammates, made me feel a love for this sport in an unexplainable way,” Prinsloo said.
Hockey has opened a new world to her, and she has shared priceless moments with her teammates.
“I fell in love with hockey because of the adrenaline going through your body when the whistle blows, the long bus rides with your team, meeting new people at each tournament, and playing a favourite sport with your best friends,” she said.
Coach Gys van Schalkwyk has a long list of matches he can name where Prinsloo played out of her socks and led her team to success. However, only one stands out to the young defender: Oranje’s derby encounter against Affies earlier in the season, which Oranje won 2-0.
“It’s always fun playing the derbies at our school. The match was high-intensity, and we connected really well with each other on the field. The vibes from the school were also really high and it just felt different playing that night in front of the school,” she recalled.
Her mother, Suné, put her umpiring and coaching pursuits on hold in 2025 to provide her daughter with much-needed support in her final year in school hockey. That support has been invaluable for her daughter, who has excelled.
She has been head-and-shoulders above other defenders in her group. It’s, thus, little wonder that she was selected to lead Oranje on the field and will also be attending her second SASHOC u18 National Week as a member of the Southern Free State u18A team. She will have an integral role to play in the provincial side’s campaign.
“Anné is a dynamic player. She is such a strong runner and an even harder defender. She’s got a few super-powers, which include fantastic huge overheads, and she has a bullet of a drag flick,” Van Schalkwyk said, listing some of her strengths.
He believes that his young captain has a future in the sport, should she choose to pursue it after school. That is high praise from a man who has helped shape and nurture many stars who have passed through Oranje’s outstanding programme.
For her part, the 18-year-old is yet to make a call on what she plans to do in future. She is still working that out. However, whatever it may be, she will make a success of it, given the way she attacks challenges and conducts herself on the turf.
