Western Cape sides begin preparations for St Mary’s Festival
With just under a month to go before the annual St Mary’s Waverley Hockey Festival, teams in the Western Cape are already putting stick to ball in preparation for the prestigious tournament, which runs from 4-6 April in Johannesburg.
After two weeks of playing in pre-season games, some of the province’s top guns will assemble at Bloemhof Girls’ High School, in Stellenbosch, on Wednesday, to face one other in the first round of a mini-tournament.
The event has been organised to help the teams to work on their structures, build combinations, and get in enough match minutes before the St Mary’s Festival.
The hosts, Somerset College, Herschel Girls School, and Paarl Girls’ High will be in attendance. Paarl Gimnasium will miss the first round of matches but will participate in the second round on 26 March.
Matters in the province have been evenly matched after two pre-season events, the Spar Hockey Festival, and the Springfield Festival.
The hosts, Bloemhof, impressed at the Spar Festival, where they racked up victories against DF Malan, Stellenberg, Springfield, and Herschel.
Coach Jenny King’s side finished joint-seventh at last year’s St Mary’s tournament, tied with Die Hoërskool Menlopark.
Paarl Girls’ High and Herschel have also shown promising signs early on in the season.
Girls’ High began the season with a new head coach, Marc Landman, and he is slowly but surely stamping his authority and philosophy on the team.
Last weekend, they took part in the Springfield Festival and defeated Wynberg Girls’ High 1-0 before playing to a goalless draw with their town rivals, Paarl Gim.
Herschel, captained by Hannah Henderson, is another side that’s coming to life this season.
They were far from convincing at the Spar Festival but showed glimpses of their potential. With further match practice, they’ll be a team to watch out for.
Somerset College, meanwhile, has had a disappointing start to 2025. They’ll aim to use the outing to build up some confidence before making the trip to Gauteng for what is considered to be the biggest and most prestigious girls’ hockey tournament in South Africa.
FIXTURES
Wednesday, 19 March
17:00 – Bloemhof vs Somerset College; 17:25 – Herschel vs Paarl Girls’ High; 17:50 – Paarl Girls’ High vs Somerset College; 18:15 – Bloemhof vs Herschel; 19:00 – Paarl Girls’ High vs Bloemhof; 19:25 – Somerset College vs Herschel.
Wednesday, 26 March
17:00 – Paarl Gimnasium vs Herschel; 17:25 – Bloemhof vs Paarl Girls’ High; 17:50 – Paarl Gimnasium vs Somerset College; 18:15 – Herschel vs Paarl Girls’ High; 18:40 – Somerset College vs Bloemhof; 19:05 – Paarl Girls’ High vs Paarl Gimnasium; 19:30 – Somerset College vs Herschel; 19:55 – Bloemhof vs Paarl Gimnasium.
