St Anne’s is ready for the Fairtree Super 12 Tournament challenge
When St Anne’s Diocesan College arrives at C&N Sekondêre Meisieskool Oranje to compete in the ninth edition of the Fairtree Super 12 Tournament, it won’t be to make up the numbers. They will be there to compete. Woe betide any side that takes them lightly.
St Anne’s is in Pool B, along with Rhenish, Durban Girls’ College, St Stithians, Eunice, and Menlopark.
The tournament runs from 8 to 10 August.
“I am proud of this group of players. They have worked hard to earn this recognition to be invited to a tournament where the best teams in the country will compete for the top spot,” said Morné Odendaal, the St Anne’s coach.
The Hilton school returns to the prestigious event after an absence of five years. They last competed in it in 2019. After not being in the conversation as potential participants over the last two years, they’ve done an excellent job of turning around their fortunes
The hard work Odendaal referred to is best expressed in numbers. Over the past 17 months, the team has transformed under his leadership, playing 44 matches, winning 32 of them, drawing six and losing only six.
Unsurprisingly, when Odendaal saw the email that extended an invitation to the Fairtree Super 12, his first thought was the players, and they were the first to hear the news. It was also a moment for them to look back and appreciate how far they had come.
Before taking up his post at St Anne’s, Odendaal enjoyed a very successful nine-year run at Oranje. The Bloemfontein school was the standard setter during his time there, from 2013 to 2022. Under his guidance, they lifted six Fairtree Super 12 titles.
When he took the reins at St Anne’s, he needed to undertake a rebuild to turn them into a competitive outfit.
One of the first things he addressed when he took charge was the team’s culture.
“It was no small feat, but our journey from a struggling team to a successful one demonstrates the power of a well-structured approach.” he said. “To change the culture effectively, we had to set goals and determine how to reach them.”
The first step was to emphasise hard work and to establish a comprehensive, year-round hockey programme. This approach provided the players with more opportunities to enhance their skills and reach their full potential. Odendaal and his coaching team implemented a five-day-a-week, year-round hockey programme.
“We introduced a coaching style rooted in values and principles to align the squad with a unified vision,” Odendaal explained.
He and his staff invited the players to take part in formulating the transformation and asked them to select the core values they felt were important. The students selected five: Discipline: ensuring consistent effort and adherence to training routines; Passion: fostering a love for the game and a desire to improve; Professionalism: maintaining a high standard of conduct both on and off the field; Grit: encouraging resilience and perseverance through challenges; Belonging: creating a supportive and inclusive team environment.
“This combination of structured training and value-driven coaching has been instrumental in our transformation. By setting clear goals and establishing a pathway to achieve them, we were able to shift the team’s culture and drive significant improvement,” Odendaal reckoned.
“The commitment to hard work, continuous development, and a shared vision has made all the difference, turning our team from one that struggled into one that thrives.”
Odendaal and his charges will have their eyes set on bettering St Anne’s results at their two previous appearances in the Fairtree Super 12, in 2017 and 2019. They finished seventh in their most recent appearance in 2019 and had their best run in 2017, when they finished joint-third with Menlopark after a 1-1 draw in the third-place playoff.
