SASHOC announces u18 high-performance girls’ team
Leah du Plessis, Abigail Holderness, Rebecca Haswell, and Jehan Abrahams were among the 18 players selected by the South African Schools Hockey Association (SASHOC) for the SA u18A High-Performance team, which was announced in Pietermaritzburg, on Saturday, during the closing ceremony of the SASHOC National Week.
The team will convene for a national camp at Waterkloof, in Pretoria, from 9-12 October.
The selection panel – convened by Omarie Pienaar-Geyer, and also including head coach Nolwazi Nkabinde, Tiffany Jones, Thando Ndlovu, and Shaun Laubscher – considered more than a player’s ability in a position. They also assessed each individual’s temperament in different match situations.
“We have a long-term vision for the game and the players we picked,” Ndlovu told SuperSport Schools Plus.
“We want to move away from the traditional style of players (who made the u18 teams). Yes, we want players with skills in their hands, but at the same time, we want stability, consistency, and growth.”
Caprice Bengtson, Jehan Abrahams, and Bianca Rees-Gibbs were selected for the side for a second year in succession and that trio showed growth, rather than regression, at this year’s inter-provincial tournament.
“We are trying to move away from what we had before. In the forward line, we aren’t just looking for players who can be the tippers on the post,” Ndlovu elaborated.
“We want players who can score. We want defenders that can chuck overheads and can also do the outletting. We were looking at links that make the lines and the leads,” she explained.
The panel was looking for utility players, she added – forwards that put as much work into defence as into attack, midfielders who could also be lethal in the circle and help out in defence, and defenders that did not sit back and wait for the opposition to attack.
Few players fulfilled that brief as emphatically as Holderness, Du Plessis, Abrahams, and Haswell over the six days of competition.
Those four were the recipients of individual prizes at the awards ceremony. Holderness, who finished the tournament with nine goals, making her the event’s top goal scorer, was judged to be the Most Valuable Midfielder.
Her Eastern Province A teammate, Haswell, received the Most Valuable Goalkeeper award, and Western Province A’s Abrahams collected the Most Valuable Defender prize.
The big winner, though, was Du Plessis. The Boland A captain was named both the Most Valuable Striker and Player of the Tournament.
Boland, who won the title, was well-represented in the SA u18 squad, with five players – Du Plessis, Jordan Boer, Sarah-Ellen Groenewald, Katherine Sickle, and Emihle Wulana – cracking the nod.
Eastern Province A, with three players, Holderness, Haswell, and Katarina Jardim, had the second-most representatives named, while the two KZN sides, Inland and Coastal, had a combined four players included: Kgabiso Morafo and Jasmin Kelly from Inland, and Bengtson and Nicola Forbes from Coastal.
Abrahams flew the flag for Western Province A, while Amber Fairon, the third-highest individual goal-scorer, was the sole Southern Gauteng A representative named.
Bianca Rees-Gibbs was the only Southern Free State A pick, while Border A had Busiwe Mayekiso selected, Andrea Groenewald was Northern Gauteng‘s only pick, and Bathobile Masuku, from Mpumalanga A, also cracked the nod.
U18A High-Performance Team
Rebecca Haswell (GK, Pearson High, Eastern Province A), Kgabiso Morafo (GK, St Anne’s DSG, KZN Inland), Jehan Abrahams (Wynberg Girls’ High, Western Province A), Caprice Bengtson (Durban Girls’ College, KZN Coastal), Jordan Boer (Parel Vallei, Boland A), Leah du Plessis (Rhenish Girls’ High, Boland A), Amber Fairon (Dainfern College, Southern Gauteng A), Nicola Forbes (St Mary’s DSG, Kloof, KZN Coastal), Sarah-Ellen Groenewald (Rhenish Girls’ High, Boland A), Andrea Groenewald (Hoërskool Garsfontein, Northern Gauteng A), Abigail Holderness (Diocesan School for Girls, Eastern Province A), Katarina Jardim (St Dominic’s Catholic School for Girls, Eastern Province A), Jasmin Kelly (St Anne’s DSG, KZN Inland), Bathobile Masuku (Middelburg High Schools, Mpumalanga), Busiwe Mayekiso (Hudson Park High, Border A), Bianca Rees-Gibbs (Eunice High School, Southern Free State A), Katherine Sickle (Rhenish Girls’ High, Boland A), Emihle Wulana (Parel Vallei, Boland A).
U18B Team
Cara Bouwer (GK, Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool Pretoria, Northern Gauteng A), Zoë Badenhorst (Hoërskool Menlopark, Northern Gauteng A), Zara Berrisford (Westerford High School, Western Province A), Skylar Bougaard (Parel Vallei, Boland A), Joné de Winnaar (Paarl Gimnasium, Boland A), Hannah Henderson (Herschel Girls School, Western Province A), Keovaan Jansen (Northcliff High School, Southern Gauteng A), Georgia Kambanis (Eunice High School, Southern Free State A), Anjum Kazie (Milnerton High, Western Province B), Halumile Moni (Stirling High, Border A), Khanya Moore (Springfield Convent School, Western Province A), Enyenhle Nzama (GK, Danville Park Girls, KZN Coastal), Elré Oosthuizen (HMS Bloemhof, Boland A), Cale Potgieter (Eunice High School, Southern Free State A), Jenna Shaw (Our Lady of Fatima, KZN Coastal), Amy Ten-Cate (Durbanville High School, Western Province A), Thimna Waka (Table View High, Western Province A), Cassidy Williams (Collegiate Girls’ High, Eastern Province A).
U17 Team
Annika Kloppers (GK, Hoërskool Menlopark, Northern Gauteng B), Peyton Marais (GK, Curro Durbanville, Western Province A), Raffael Abrahams (Steyn City School, Southern Gauteng A), Minke Botha (Paarl Gimnasium, Boland A), Ella Bowyer (St Mary’s DSG, Kloof, KZN Coastal), Jamie da Silva (St Mary’s DSG, Kloof, KZN Coastal), Jemma Ferreira (St Dominic’s Catholic School for Girls, Eastern Gauteng), Holly Hofmeyr (St Anne’s DSG, KZN Inland), Timari Jonker (Potchefstroom Gimnasium, North West), Xylia Khoene (Oranje Meisieskool, Southern Free State A), Zezethu Kunene (Maris Stella, KZN Coastal), Chelsey McGregor (St Cyprian’s School, Western Province A), Beracah Mosaka (CBC Mount Edmund, Northern Gauteng A), Amogelang Motlatle (Curro Hazeldean, Northern Gauteng A), Azania Petersen (St Andrew’s School for Girls, Southern Gauteng A), Siphiwe Thwala (Middelburg High School, Mpumalanga), Pippa Viljoen (Rhenish Girls’ High, Boland A), Claire Volschenk (Eunice High School, Southern Free State A).
