Top Schools ready for Nomads Festival
Ten of the country’s top hockey-playing schools have converged on Pietermaritzburg and are preparing for the annual Nomads Festival, which begins on Thursday, 21 March.
The event, which is being hosted by Maritzburg College, runs over three days and will end on Saturday, 23 March.
The Nomads Festival comprises a group of core schools, who have established themselves over the years as among South Africa’s most consistent and best hockey-playing schools.
Catch all the Nomads Festival action live on DStv Channel 216 from 15:30 on Thursday.
Maritzburg College coach Kyle Emerson‘s team enters the festival with a point to prove.
The hosts have a rich history in the sport. In the past 73 years, they have delivered 36 players to the South African national team, including three captains. Despite that esteemed history, College did not enjoy a particularly good Nomads Festival in 2023, winning two and losing three matches.
Emerson will be seeking a better showing from his defence which conceded 10 goals, twice as many as the number they scored, last year.
One of their standout players is goalkeeper Nicholas Holmes, who was a member of the South Africa u17 team that took part in the Dato Mirnawan Cup in Kuala Lumpur in October last year. College is well stocked with players who have represented KZN Inland at provincial level, but will look, in particular, to the experienced Siwa Sithembu, who was selected for the SA u16 High-Performance camp last year, to lead their challenge.
In the previous edition of the Nomads Festival, Jeppe High School for Boys overcame the hosts 3-1. The teams will meet on the last day of the festival.
While College will be seeking to reverse that result, coach Siya Sityana’s team will be a tough nut to crack. At last year’s Nomads Festival, the Gauteng side was unstoppable, sweeping all of their matches. They stamped their authority on proceedings by scoring 12 goals and conceding only one.
They also made their intentions for the 2024 edition of the Nomads clear when they beat Michaelhouse 2-1 in a warmup match a few hours after arriving in the KZN Midlands on Tuesday.
Selborne College will not be bystanders. Coach KJ Friend’s team is on a high following a successful Tony Godding Festival where they finished as one of the three unbeaten teams. They’ll be aiming to maintain that momentum against competition that will be a step up from the East London event.
Grey College, who won four of their five matches at the Tony Godding Festival, had mixed results at Nomads in 2023, and produced three wins and two loses.
They scored 11 and conceded eight goals on their way to victories over Maritzburg College, King Edward VII School (KES), and St John’s College. They lost to Pretoria Boys High School and Jeppe. They will have a chance to avenge their 2-4 loss to PBHS on the first day of the festival when they cross sticks with the Pretoria-based team.
PBHS, like the other Nomads participants, has an excellent hockey history and they will be anything but pushovers. Grey College will have to be on point and clinical. KES, Hilton College, Wynberg, St John’s, and Grey High, who were also undefeated at the Tony Godding Festival, will also be in action at the hockey extravaganza.
Fixtures
Thursday
08:00 – Jeppe vs Hilton College, 09:00 – Grey College vs PBHS, 10:25 – KES vs Selborne, 11:35 – Maritzburg College vs Grey High, 12:50 – Wynberg vs St John’s, 14:00 – Jeppe vs Grey College, 15:15 – PBHS vs Selborne, 16:25 – KES vs Hilton College, 17:40 – Maritzburg College vs Wynberg, 18:50 – Grey High vs St John’s.
Friday
08:00 – KES vs Grey College, 09:10 – Grey High vs Hilton College, 10:25 – Wynberg vs PBHS, 11:35 – Maritzburg College vs St John’s College, 12:50 – Jeppe vs Selborne, 14:00 – Grey High vs KES, 15:15 – Hilton College vs PBHS, 16:25 – Grey College vs St John’s, 17:40 – Jeppe vs Wynberg, 18:50 – Maritzburg College vs Selborne.
Saturday
07:30 – Grey High vs PBHS, 08:40 – KES vs Wynberg, 09:55 – Selborne vs St John’s, 11:05 – Hilton College vs Grey College, 12:15 – Maritzburg College vs Jeppe
