Western Cape hockey action resumes

Schools in the Western Cape will officially commence their 2024 inter-school hockey season this weekend. An exciting and intriguing showcase of the sport awaits.
Many teams head into the season off the back of their participation in Easter festivals all around the country.
Paarl Gimnasium, SACS, Stellenberg, and Parel Vallei will all be in action after enjoying promising starts to their respective seasons.
Last year’s number-one ranked team in the country, SACS, travelled to KZN for the Founders Festival, hosted by Kearsney College, at the end of March and showed why they are considered the favourites to take first spot again in 2024.
There, SACS dominated every opponent they came up against, scoring a whopping 31 goals in five matches, while conceding only two.
They thumped St Stithians College 6-0, the Northwood 2nd XI 8-0, Queen’s College 5-0, and the Gauteng duo of Affies and Parktown Boys’ High 5-1 and 7-1 respectively.
This weekend, they take on Fairmont High School, who finished in sixth place out of 40 teams at the Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament in Cape Town.
Another team aiming to ride their festival momentum is Paarl Gimnasium. Gim, just like Fairmont, took part in the Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament and claimed gold for a third year running.
Coach Jacques Grobler’s troops impressed in pool play and then breezed past Private School Swakopmund 9-1 in the semi-final. They had to dig deep in the title-decider, but goals from captain LD Nel and Juan Swanepoel saw them to a 2-1 victory over Worcester Gimnasium.
This week, they welcome Hoërskool Outeniqua to their home turf, with the clash starting at 18:45.
Parel Vallei, after a tour of the Netherlands, will be in action against DF Malan. Coach Michael van Rensburg‘s side played against some of the world’s best during their time in abroad.
They came short against HC Schiedam (5-4), and Den Bosch (4-2) before recording a fine 3-1 win over HC Cartouche. They will use their clash against DF Malan as preparation for a much-anticipated showdown with SACS next weekend.
Other matches on the weekend include Wynberg Boys High against Curro Durbanville and Belgotex finalists, Worcester Gymnasium, against Swartland, while Stellenberg welcomes Rondebosch Boys’ High.
Fixtures
Friday, 5 April
17:10 – Worcester Gimnasium vs Swartland
18:15 – Fairmont vs SACS
18:30 – Wynberg Boys’ High vs Curro Durbanville
18:45 – Paarl Gimnasium vs Hoërskool Outeniqua
19:00 – Rondebosch Boys’ High vs Stellenberg
19:00 – Brackenfell vs Wynberg Invitational
19:30 – Parel Vallei vs DF Malan
Saturday, 6 April
09:45- HTS Drostdy vs Hugenote
- Five players to watch at the Vides Water Polo Tournament - 2025-02-12
- Teams hunt glory at 49th Vides Water Polo Tournament - 2025-02-11
- Player Profile – Noah Reiback (Rondebosch Boys’ High) - 2025-02-11