JONATHAN COOK
at Hartleyvale
The 12th annual Cape Town Under-18 International Schools and Clubs Hockey Festival has long been a fixture on the South African hockey calendar and this year the event promises to be bigger and better than ever.
This TEAM Sports Travel festival will hold its opening ceremony on Tuesday, 22nd July at 4pm. The opening fixtures kick off at 9am on Wednesday; the week’s matches are played at a remarkable eight venues in Cape Town – the tournament headquarters at Hartleyvale Hockey Stadium, University of Cape Town (UCT), SACS (SA College School), Western Province Cricket Club (WPCC), the DF Malan, Stellenberg and Wynberg schools, as well as at Old Mutual – and the culmination of a mammoth 142 matches is highlighted on Finals Day, which is played primarily at Hartleyvale on Sunday, 27 July.
“There are 44 teams taking part, made up of 22 boys’ teams and 22 girls’ teams, and they represent five nations; England, Holland, Namibia, Zimbabwe and, of course, South Africa,” says festival director Chris Brothers, the inspiration behind this memorable event.
The United Kingdom is represented by Merchant Taylors Northwood (2 teams) Kingston Grammar School (2 teams), Millfield School (2 teams) Felsted School, King Edward School Birmingham and Wakefield Girls High School. Holland is represented by Kennemer Lyceum. Namibia is represented by Windhoek Gim (2 teams), and Zimbabwe is represented by Chisipite School.
Of the South African teams, the visiting schools are Outeniqua (2 teams), Uplands College, Potchefstroom Gim, and Pearson (Eastern Province). The top Cape Town boys’ schools include Wynberg, Rondebosch, Paul Roos and SACS. Top Cape Town girls’ schools include Somerset College, Stellenberg, Bloemhof and Paarl Gim.
In the Boys’ Group A the top seeds are Wynberg followed by Parel Vallei, Paarl Gim, Felsted (UK), Pearson and Outeniqua. In Group B the top seeds are SACS followed by Somerset, Hugenot, Merchant Taylors (UK) and Paul Roos B. Group C has the favoured team in Paul Roos, followed by DF Malan, Pinelands and Kingston Grammar (UK). Pool D is headed by defending champions Rondebosch with Paarl, Stellenberg, Merchant Taylors (B) and King Edward Birmingham (UK).
In the Girls’ Group A the top seeds are Bloemhof followed by Paarl, Pinelands, Millfield B (UK), Pearson and Kennemer Lyceum. Group B is headed by defending champs Somerset College, followed by Rhenish, Bellville, Millfield (UK), Potchefstroom Gim and Windhoek Gim. The top-ranked side in Group C are Stellenberg with Parel Vallei, Kingston Grammar (UK), Table View and Outeniqua the rest. Group D is represented by favourites Paarl Gim, Springfield Convent, Stellenberg B, Wakefield (UK) and Chisipite (Zimbabwe).
