Standard Bank Festival Season to showcase tomorrow’s stars
There is no such thing as an end-of-first-term school holiday for many of South Africa’s school sports stars.
Instead, they’re gearing up for the Standard Bank Festival Season, which will fill rugby fields, hockey AstroTurfs, netball courts, and basketball courts around the country with all-out action.
When the school term ends on Friday, 28 March, many of the festivals will already be underway. The holiday lasts only 10 days, but it could hardly be more jam-packed with sporting entertainment.
Follow all the action on SuperSport Schools (www.supersportschools.co.za).
In Stellenbosch, at Paul Roos Gimnasium‘s Markötter Stadium, the annual NMI Toyota Noord/Suid tournament kicks off at 08:30 on Friday with Parel Vallei of Somerset West making their debut at the tournament against another debutant, the Mzwandiele Mali XV.
Many of the country’s top schoolboy rugby teams will contest the prestigious tournament, which started in 2014.
Paarl Gimnasium, Grey College, Paarl Boys’ High, Boland Landbou, Outeniqua, Paul Roos, Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies), of Pretoria, King Edward VII, Hoërskool Garsfontein, Noordheuwel, Waterkloof, Monument, Helpmekaar Kollege and Stellenberg are among the elite group of participants, whose second-stringers will also be in action in Stellenbosch.
In Gqeberha, the Standard Bank Grey High Rugby Festival returns to take centre stage once again. The Kolisi Field will, without a doubt, see exhilarating action as Queen’s College, Dale College, Kingswood College, Hudson Park, Durban High School, Hilton College, St Stithians College, Selborne College, St Charles College, Westville Boys’ High, and Northwood, among others, showcase their talent.
Up north, in Pretoria, the capital city will also be the capital of netball in South Africa during the school holidays. The annual Kloof Netbalfees starts on Friday morning with 43 schools from South Africa, as well as Namibia, participating in the event, which features teams from u14 to u19 putting their skills on display.
Among the top schools contesting the Kloof Netbalfees are Waterkloof, Framesby, of Gqeberha, La Rochelle, of Paarl, Kempton Park, Sentraal, of Bloemfontein, Transvalia, of Vanderbijlpark, Voortrekker, of Bethlehem, and Hoërskool Klerksdorp.
On Saturday, the annual Toyota Menlo Netball tournament, the biggest in the country, with a staggering 170 teams and approximately 1,700 players in action, takes over the courts of Die Hoërskool Menlopark.
Besides the hosts, a lineup of leading teams from across the country will go head-to-head, including Helpmekaar Kollege, Duineveld, Paarl Gimnasium, Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof, Oranje, Ben Vorster, Secunda, Outeniqua, Potchefstroom Gimnasium, Paarl Girls’ High, and Middelburg.
From Monday, 31 March, another 18 teams per age group will face off for the title of the champions of the Affies Prestige tournament hosted by Afrikaans Hoër Meisieskool, of Pretoria. Affies, who were last year’s top side, will face tough challenges from Garsfontein, Jim Fouché, Fichardtpark, Hoërskool Pietersburg, Stellenberg, and Hoërskool Nelspruit.
In the Western Cape, Paarl Gimnasium will host its annual netball festival from 2 to 5 April.
Just outside Riversdale, at Oakdale Landbou, their annual rugby week runs from 29 March to 2 April.
There are also numerous top junior rugby tournaments on the go, among them the Jean de Villiers u16 Festival, hosted by Paarl Gimnasium, the Frans Malherbe u15 Festival, hosted by Paarl Boys’ High, the Francois Swart Week (u15), hosted Affies, the Kwagga Week (for u14 players), hosted by Outeniqua, in George, the Willie le Roux u13 Festival, at Paul Roos, and the Skonk Nicholson Festival, hosted by Maritzburg College.
In Durban, the Glenwood Rugby Festival will be hosted at the home of the Grasshoppers from 31 March to 5 April. The festival includes sides from u14 level to 1st XVs.
South Africa’s future hockey stars will also shift into a higher gear as the annual Nomads Hockey Festival, to be played at Jeppe High School for Boys, in Johannesburg, from 29-31 March.
The festival features many of the country’s established hockey powers, including Maritzburg College, Grey College, Hilton College, King Edward VII, St John’s College, Selborne College, Pretoria Boys’ High, and Wynberg Boys’ High.
Gauteng also hosts the annual Founders Hockey Festival from 29-31 March. The u19 age group games will be hosted by Affies, Pretoria High School for Girls will welcome the u16 sides, and Parktown Boys’ High will be home to the u14 matches.
The festival features a strong line-up, which includes St Stithians College, Northwood, Kearsney College, Rondebosch Boys’ High, Affies, St David’s Marist Inanda, Paarl Gimnasium, Queen’s College, and Dale College.
The annual Belgotex Coastal Cup will be played at the Riverside Hockey Club, in Durban, from 28 to 31 March.
It boasts a diverse and stellar lineup of schools competing in the u14, u16, and u19 age groups, who have all made some noise early in the season. The participants include Paul Roos Gimnasium, Durban High School, Michaelhouse, Westville Boys’ High, Parel Vallei, Clifton College, Garsfontein, Menlopark, Glenwood High School, St Alban’s College, and Pearson.
Durban will also be home to the annual u16 Interprovincial Basketball tournament, which runs from 30 March to 4 April.
Bloemfontein, meanwhile, will host the South African High School Athletics Championship from 2-6 April.
Towards the end of the holiday’s sporting action, the spotlight turns back to hockey with one of the biggest highlights on the girls’ calendar, the Standard Bank St Mary’s Hockey Festival, being hosted in the City of Gold.
This year’s 23rd edition of the festival, which was launched in 2000 with 12 teams, now features 32 sides and runs from 3-6 April.
Last year’s champions, Durban Girls’ College, will be back to defend their title with the hosts, Rhenish, Oranje, Eunice, St Mary’s DSG (Kloof), and Waterkloof among the challengers seeking to dethrone them.
The very deep field features many other prominent hockey schools, including, among others, The Wykeham Collegiate, Die Hoërskool Menlopark, Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof, Paarl Gimnasium, Affies, Roedean, Our Lady Fatima, Herschel Girls School, St Stithians College and Collegiate.
Those are some of, but not all of, the events that will be available LIVE on SuperSport Schools, no matter where viewers are in the world, via the SuperSport Schools app, DStv Channel 216, or SABC Plus during the Standard Bank Festival Season.
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