SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge Durban Central Regional - 3 Schools Trust: Sunday 22 March

Just over midway in the 2026 SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge, teams participating in the Durban Central Regional take to the turf for the sixth regional, at 3 Schools Trust on Sunday 22 March, hosted by St Henry’s Marist College.

St Henry’s welcomes Durban Girls’ College; Durban Girls’ High School; Inanda Seminary Secondary School; a combined team representing Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu and defending champs, Maris Stella School. 

Six schools will be vying for the title in this year’s challenge, with home team - St Henry’s taking on Durban Girls’ College in the opening fixture. The first game gets underway at 8am, with all of the 15 round robin games lasting 25 minutes. During the round robin, running time is allocated for the games, except for the final that allows for a penalty shoot-out if the concluding game ends in a draw. 

Leading up to the final, victorious teams will be awarded 4 points on their log, while teams that tie will both earn the same number of points. A goalless draw will see each team adding 1 point to their tally, while a game tied with goals will each earn 2 points. A loss registers zero points. Once all the games have been played, the top two teams will meet for the regional final. 

Four teams have already earned their spot for this year’s Grand Finals which takes place at St Mary’s D.S.G. in July. First to book their place was Our Lady of Fatima (DBN North Regional) followed by Amanzimtoti High School (DBN South Regional); St John’s D.S.G. (PMB Central Regional) and St Anne’s Diocesan College (PMB North Regional). Teams in the Highway area will be duelling it out the prior day (Saturday 21 March) at Westville Girls’ High School. The final four spots will be revealed as the challenge continues to travel around KZN in May. 

Three teams playing in this regional have advanced to the Grand Finals. Durban Girls’ College dominated with 14 wins since the tournament’s inception in 2011. Maris Stella broke their long standing record, earning their first Grand Finals appearance last year. Durban Girls’ High School went on to the Grand Finals three times when they participated in the Durban South Regional in the early days of the tournament. 

Matrics participating in the challenge will have the opportunity to win a year’s bursary at eta College, a leading Sport Science, Coaching and Management tertiary institution in Durban. The bursary will be awarded at the Grand Finals.

All the games will be livestreamed on the SuperSport Schools app, so if you can’t get to the sidelines, you can catch all the action online.

For more information, follow the tournament on Facebook: SparSchoolGirlsHockeyTournament and Instagram sparkznhockey or TikTok spar.kzn.hockey or use the hashtags: #ChixWithStix; #HeartoftheCommunity; #SuperLocal; #MyKZNSPAR #MySPAR

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge Highway Regional - Westville Girls’ High School: Saturday 21 March

Nearing the halfway mark, Westville Girls’ High School hosts the Highway Regional, the fifth regional out of ten in the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge on their astro turf on Saturday 21 March.

In one of the more competitive regions, eight hopeful teams walk on to the pitch in the hopes of claiming the Highway trophy. One-time winners, Westville Girls’ High School will lead the charge with home ground advantage, taking on Curro Hillcrest; Gelofte Skool; Hillcrest High School; Kloof High School; Pinetown High School; defending champs, St Mary’s D.S.G and Thomas More College.

The teams will be split into two pools for this tournament, with St Mary’s D.S.G.; Hillcrest; Westville Girls’ and Gelofte being drawn in Pool A and Thomas More; Curro; Kloof and Pinetown filling out Pool B. All games will be a quickfire 20 minutes long. Once the pool games are all wrapped up, the teams will then meet in a cross-pool playoff, with the semi-finalists playing an extra game. 

Games tip off early at 7.30 with the defending champions, St Mary’s D.S.G. taking on Gelofte Skool in the opening fixture. St Mary’s have lifted the Highway Regional trophy an impressive 14 times and also gone on to win the overall title on seven occasions since the tournament began in 2011.

In the build up to the final, after each game the teams will be awarded points on their logs. A win results in 4 points, while a draw with goals adds 2 points to the team’s tally, a goalless draw only increases your total by 1 point while a goalless draw registers zero points. 

Five more tournaments are still to be played in the 16th challenge. Currently four teams have secured their berth at the Grand Finals that will be taking place at St Mary’s D.S.G. in July. They are Our Lady of Fatima (DBN North Regional) followed by Amanzimtoti High School (DBN South Regional); St John’s D.S.G. (PMB Central Regional) and St Anne’s Diocesan College (PMB North Regional).

At each of the regionals, Matrics participating in the challenge can enter a lucky draw with the possibility of winning a year’s bursary at eta College, a leading Sport Science, Coaching and Management tertiary institution in Durban. The bursary will be awarded at the Grand Finals.

If you are unable to get to watch the action live, you can catch the action on SuperSport Schools with all the games being on the SuperSport Schools app.

For more information, follow the tournament on Facebook: SparSchoolGirlsHockeyTournament and Instagram sparkznhockey or TikTok spar.kzn.hockey or use the hashtags: #ChixWithStix; #HeartoftheCommunity; #SuperLocal; #MyKZNSPAR #MySPAR

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge Pietermaritzburg North Regional - St Anne’s Diocesan College: Sunday 15 March

A familiar name secured victory in spectacular fashion at the Pietermaritzburg North Regional, with host school St Anne’s Diocesan College holding the trophy aloft at the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge on Sunday 15 March. 

The defending champs, St Anne’s managed to defeat The Wykeham Collegiate in the regional final, earning their twelfth title. Having won their earlier round robin game, St Anne’s walked on as favourites meeting long-time rivals, Wykeham. The final consisted of two 15 minute halves, with a 5 minute half time. The home team had a flawless first half, netting two well crafted goals. Their first was off a short corner awarded after nearly 5 minutes of play. Vice-Captain, Willow Crawford capitalised on being in the right place at the right time after their set piece didn’t quite go according to plan. 

Seven minutes later, Belle Hofmeyr added one more after a quick free hit just outside the circle was rapidly sent her way. Wasting no time, Hofmeyr, lurking just inside the circle, rerouted the pass goalwards, beyond Elam Ndakisa, keeper for The Wykeham Collegiate, knocking in the defending champs second. 

In the second half, St Anne’s still seemed to dominate with magical bursts in the Wykeham’s circle. Ndakisa was up for the challenge, a third of the way through the second half, her skill was put to the test. The first, the St Anne’s attacker was meters away from the right hand post, Ndakisa bearing down on her, the solo striker sent the ball on its way, but the ball veered right. Two minutes later, an impressive run down the left found St Anne’s in a good position with numbers in the circle. The ball was worked to the top of the D, with a St Anne’s forward extending her stick out and deflecting the ball towards the left-hand post. In desperation, Ndakisa just managed to stop the ball sliding her right foot out and edging it out of danger. 

Wykeham perked up tremendously after their great defending. With eight minutes remaining, Hannah van Wyk found herself in space, stretching her legs, charging towards the St Anne’s goals. Finding herself in a one-on-one situation, quick thinking, keeper for the home team, Lili-Anna James calmly came right out to meet van Wyk, sliding neatly, halting the brave attempt. 

With just over three minutes left in the final, Wykeham earned a well-deserved short corner, The ball flew up to the top of the circle, then was passed left under the stick of the first striker. The player to the left redirected the ball to the right where McKenzie Du Bourg was set up to fire in a shot from just inside the circle. The scoreline was now on 2-1. 

The tempo of the visitors was raised some more, with mounting pressure Wykeham again pierced into St Anne’s circle, looking severely threatening but time was not on their side, the final whistle sounded securing victory for St Anne’s. 

Leading up to the final, Courtney van Wyngaard, a Grade 11 student from Riverwood College was over the moon when she won a Princess Stick in the lucky draw prize. Delighted with her new treasure, she unwrapped it and went off to play with it. 

Young Jordan Licen from Treverton College was acknowledged for his decisive decisions with the whistle and was presented with the Umpire of the Day award. 

St Anne’s Diocesan College is the fourth team to reserve a place at the Grand Finals that will be taking place at St Mary’s D.S.G. in July. Ten teams in total from around KZN will converge for the Finals. The three teams that have secured their spot already are Our Lady of Fatima (DBN North Regional); Amanzimtoti High School (DBN South Regional) and most recently, St John’s D.S.G. (PMB Central Regional). 

Results

Regional Final

St Anne’s Diocesan College 2 vs The Wykeham Collegiate 1

Round Robin Results

1 St Anne’s Diocesan College 16pts; 2 The Wykeham Collegiate 12pts; 3 Howick High School 8pts; 4 Treverton College 3pts; Riverwood College 0pts

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge PMB Central Regional - Epworth School: Saturday 14 March

For the fourth consecutive year, the Pietermaritzburg Central Regional was decided in a nail-biting penalty shootout with St John’s D.S.G claiming their fourth title at the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge hosted by Epworth School on Saturday 14 March. 

St John’s met host school and defending champs, Epworth School in the regional final that flowed to all corners of the astro. Both teams had moments of pure brilliance where they crafted fantastic attacks after mounting pressure, bursting into each other’s circles, only for magical defence to turn play around, sending it back to the other side.  

Epworth earned three short corners; the first surge was after 68 seconds of play. St John’s were up for the challenge and didn’t allow the set pieces to pierce their defence. On the other end, St John’s had two short corners. Their first was an elaborate run around, with the ball being injected to the top of the circle, moving left, then back to the injector who pushed it back up to the tip of the circle before the player at the top of the D was in possession again. Epworth’s defenders tracked the ball carefully, charging down the ball before the attacker could finish her flamboyant shot. St John’s second set piece was awarded with only 12 seconds left on the clock. Slowing things down, St John’s went back to basics with a skilful, simple manoeuvre of pushing the ball to the castle, and fired off a ferocious flick that was neatly stopped. The score remained on nil nil after fulltime. 

Six players lined up for both teams with the responsibility of taking the penalty shootouts. First to go was St John’s Ananbele Balmer who drifted to her left, slotting the ball under a diving Epworth keeper, Kenya Zwane. Siphokazi Mpantshane stepped up to take the first round for Epworth. Mpantshane made quick work of levelling the scoreline as she charged towards St John’s goal, spinning around – foxing the goalie, Deborah Lock with her 360, slotting in her shot. 

In the second round, Emma Williams trotted in for St John's also veering left before changing tack, keeping the ball away from Zwane and knocking it in the middle of the goals. Young Owami Mthethwa had the task of levelling the score for Epworth. Unlocking her bravery, Lock danced off her line to confront Mthethwa who was advancing keenly. The bold move by Lock cut down the angle for Mthethwa, with a retreating Epworth’s striker, hurriedly trying to knock in her shot but was unable to, by an ‘on-the-ball’ Lock.

Stepping up in the final round, Kate van Breda had the opportunity to claim victory for St John’s if she managed to slot her shot in. She followed in similar fashion to Williams, resulting in a regional winning goal. The final score for St John’s was 3 to 1 goal for Epworth. 

A budding talent, representing St John’s with the whistle, a sincerely cheerful Marcel Diaz had an impressive day overseeing the hotly contested games. Grade 12 learner, Cara MacFarlane from Epworth School walked away with a brand-new Princess hockey stick in the lucky draw prize that was held in the 20 minute break ahead of the finals. 

The top ten teams will converge at the Grand Finals being held in July at St Mary’s D.S.G.. St John’s is the third team to secure their spot, joining Our Lady of Fatima (DBN North Regional) and Amanzimtoti High School (DBN South Regional). St Anne’s Diocesan College were crowned champion the following day (Sunday 15 March) in the Pietermaritzburg North Regional. Another six teams remain to be decided with the tournament travelling around KZN in the coming weeks. 

Results

Regional Final

Epworth School 0 (1) vs St John’s D.S.G. 0 (3)

Round Robin Results

1 St John’s D.S.G. 24pts; 2 Epworth School 20pts; 3 Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School 16pts; 4 Maritzburg Christian School 6pts; 5 Carter High School 3pts; 6 Russell High School 3pts; 7 Alexandra High School 2pts

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge Pietermaritzburg Central and North Regionals Saturday 14 March & Sunday 15 March

Action-a-plenty awaits schools from the greater Maritzburg area in the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge with Epworth School hosting the Pietermaritzburg Central Regional on Saturday 14 March and St Anne’s Diocesan College welcoming schools for the Pietermaritzburg North Regional on Sunday 15 March.

The busy weekend of hockey will see 12 schools taking to the turf in the hopes of being crowned regional champion. On Saturday, joining Epworth School on their astro are Alexandra High School; Carter High School; Maritzburg Christian School; Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School; Russell High School and St John’s D.S.G. 

On the prowl for their fifth title, Epworth School looks forward to defending the Pietermaritzburg Central Regional on their astro on Saturday 14 March for the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge. Lining up for the host team are Cara Macfarlane and Siphokazi Mpontshane. Pic by Val Adamson

Sunday sees five schools head to St Anne’s for the annual contest. The guest schools are Howick High School; Riverwood College; Treverton College and The Wykeham Collegiate. 

The weekend’s fixtures have all teams meeting in a round robin format, with games in the Central Regional lasting 20 minutes, and 25 minutes in the North Regional. A victorious team will earn themselves 4 points on the log, while drawn games – both teams will share the points. If both teams have the same number of goals, they will each earn 2 points while a goalless draw will add 1 point to your tally. A loss registers zero points. 

There have been five schools that have had the honour of representing their regions at the Grand Finals since the tournament’s inception in 2011. The top ten schools from around KZN converge on St Mary’s D.S.G. in the hopes of being crowned overall champion in the challenge. Both hosts schools are defending champs.

Leaders of the pack. St Anne’s Diocesan College’s Hannah Schwegmann (vice-captain), Holly Hofmeyr (captain) and Willow Crawford (vice-captain) prepare to defend their title in the Pietermaritzburg North Regional at the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge. The only matrics donning the St Anne’s kit this year, the trio will be welcoming teams onto their turf on Sunday 15 March. Pic by Val Adamson

The two home teams will be walking on to the fields as defending champs. St Anne’s have lifted the regional trophy 11 times while Wykeham Collegiate have three. In the Central tournament, Girls High have their name engraved on the trophy seven times, followed by Epworth with four wins and St John’s three successes. 

Two teams have already secured their spot at the Grand Finals in the 2026 edition. First to qualify was Our Lady of Fatima waving the Durban North Regionals flag and joining them is Amanzimtoti High School from the Durban South Regional who were victorious last weekend. 

Matrics present on the day should keep an eye out for eta College. The leading Sport Science, Coaching and Management tertiary institution in Durban is offering a year’s bursary at eta College, which one lucky player could win. The bursary will be awarded to a lucky young lady at the Grand Finals.

All games at these two tournaments will be livestreamed by SuperSport Schools, so if you can’t make it to the sidelines to support, you can still catch all the action online. 

For more information, follow the tournament on Facebook: SPARSchoolGirlsHockeyTournament and Instagram  sparkznhockey or TikTok spar.kzn.hockey or use the hashtags: #ChixWithStix #HearthoftheCommunity #SuperLocal #MyKZNMySPAR 

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge Durban South Regional - 3 Schools Trust Astro: Saturday 7 March

Amanzimtoti High School hosts the second tournament of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge inviting teams for the Durban South Regional which takes place at 3 Schools Trust Astro on Saturday 7 March.

Eight teams will take on this year’s challenge in the hopes of raising the trophy and advancing to the prestigious Grand Finals where nine other regional winners from around KwaZulu Natal will converge. The Grand Finals concludes the challenge at St Mary’s D.S.G. at the end of July. One team has secured a spot, Our Lady of Fatima was crowned the Durban North Regional champion on Sunday (1 March).

All smiles, teammates Nandy Mseleku and Elihle Ncwane from Kingsway High School gear up to defend their title at the upcoming Durban South Regional. Amanzimtoti High School welcomes teams to the 3 Schools Trust for this SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge on Saturday 7 March. Pic by Val Adamson

Defending champs, Kingsway High School will meet host school, Toti in the first game of the fixtures. The day gets underway at 7.30am with each game lasting a rapid 20 minutes. A victorious team will earn 4 points, with teams that draw sharing the same number of points. A draw with goals earns 2 points, while a goalless draw earns the teams 1 point each. Zero points will reflect on a losing team’s log. For teams that dominate, their tally will be capped at a maximum of 7 goals recorded.

The schools participating have been split into two Pools, with Amanzimtoti and Kingsway being joined in Pool A by Port Natal Skool and Queensburgh Girls’ High School. Pool B will have Durban Academy; Kuswag Skool; New Forest High School and Werda Skool. Once the pool games have concluded, the teams will all get the chance to participate in a positional cross pool play-off. The top two teams from each of the pools will meet in a semi-final, with the losing teams heading to the bronze medal game and the two successful teams clashing for the regional honours.

In the cross pool play-offs, teams ending with a level score will head to a nail-biting penalty shoot-out where three players from each team will have the opportunity to edge their opponents out.

Four teams have represented the area at the Grand Finals, with host school Toti leading the charge with 6 appearances at the Grand Finals. Kuswag have their name engraved on the trophy three times, including the inaugural tournament in 2011and two times since COVID. Sharing the honour of three wins is Durban Girls’ High School, who moved across to the Durban Central Regional in recent years. Adding their name to the list, Kingsway High will be keen to defend their title and claim their second title.

Matrics participating in the challenge will have the opportunity to win a year’s bursary at eta College, a leading Sport Science, Coaching and Management tertiary institution in Durban. The bursary will be awarded at the Grand Finals.

All the games will be livestreamed on the SuperSport Schools app, so if you can’t get to the sidelines, you can catch all the action online.

For more information, follow the tournament on Facebook: SparSchoolGirlsHockeyTournament and Instagram sparkznhockey or TikTok spar.kzn.hockey or use the hashtags: #ChixWithStix; #HeartoftheCommunity; #SuperLocal; #MyKZNSPAR #MySPAR

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge Durban North Regional - Crawford La Lucia: Sunday 1 March

Securing their seventh title in the Durban North Regional, Our Lady of Fatima return as champions in the opening fixture in the 16th year of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge that took place at Crawford La Lucia on Sunday 1 March.

In a replay of the 2025 final, Fatima took on defending champions, Ashton International College in the concluding game. Having put on a very methodical performance throughout the day, Fatima met a determined Ashton who were keen to keep the trophy they had doggedly won in a hard-fought battle. This year was no different; Ashton put up a valiant fight, faltering Fatima’s dominance. For the first time that day, Fatima’s keeper, Kayla Driver, was on her toes as Ashton edged play into Fatima’s circle on several occasions but were just unable to make any impact.

Charge. Turning around the play, Zoey Seppings from Our Lady of Fatima defends scuppering Ashton International College’s Emmerson van Zijl valiant attempt to break the solid Fatima defence during the final of the Durban North Regional of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge that took place on Sunday 1 March at Crawford La Lucia.  Pic by Val Adamson

 On the other end, Stella Fourie was perfectly poised, slotting in Fatima’s first goal as she pierced her opponent's circle after 150 seconds, quickly gathering herself and punching in a feisty shot, slotting it into the left-hand corner beyond Ashton’s last line - Isabella Baxter. Two minutes later, Fatima’s Charly-Rose Boyle charged down the centre of the field, finding some freedom to drift right as she entered the circle. At pace, she attempted a spirited shot that flew right of the post.

After 12 minutes of play, Rachel Da Sousa was stationed on Ashton’s post. Yet another attack from Fatima found their forwards on the baseline, quickly moving the ball goalward. Da Sousa was there on hand to pounce on the pass, confidently knocking it in identical fashion to Fourie’s earlier goal.

The final eight minutes, Ashton bravely retaliated, with several surges into Fatima’s circle spurred on by vice-captain, Emmerson van Zijl threatening runs, but the advances were shut down by a composed defence. The final whistle blasted with Fatima victorious with their two class goals.

In the build up to the final, Ashton met Reddam House uMhlanga. Reddam who have been growing in stature at this tournament have regularly featured in the top four in recent years. Reddam held Ashton to a nil nil draw after full time. The game being decided in a penalty shootout. After three rounds, the scoreline was level with both teams netting one goal each. The tempo raised with the game now going into a round of sudden death. Reddam were first to go with their attempt sadly going wide. Capitalising on her earlier goal in the penalty shootout, Kimberly Johnson ran the ball in for Ashton, sliding left scooping the ball in, just beyond the travelling Reddam keeper Kaela Magjee, claiming their spot in the regional final.

In the second semi, Fatima met long time rival, and previous regional winners Danville Park Girls’ High. In a display of pure dominance, Fatima bamboozled Danville with an emphatic win of 5 nil.

Eighty two goals were scored in total after 23 games in suffocating heat, with Fatima netting 21 goals in their pool games and seven in the medal games, while Ashton earned 17 in their pool games and another two in their silverware games.

Umpire of the Day was awarded to hard working Tyler Tomset representing Ashton. In the build up to the finals, one young player from each school had the opportunity to win a Princess hockey stick in a fun lucky draw. Participating for the first year in the Ashton first team, Grade 9 Caylea Duncan earned herself the magnificent prize.

Fatima is the first of ten teams to book their berth at the Grand Finals taking place in July. This coming weekend, teams from Amanzimtoti, the Bluff and Queensburgh take to the turf at 3 Schools Trust for the second fixture in the challenge, the Durban South Regional.

Results

Final

Ashton International College 0 vs Our Lady of Fatima 2

Semi Finals

Ashton International College 0 (2) vs Reddam uMhlanga 0 (1)

Our Lady of Fatima 5 vs Danville Park Girls’ High 0

Pool A

1 Ashton International College 13pts; 2 Danville Park Girls’ High 13pts; 3 Crawford La Lucia 5pts; 4 Reddam House Ballito 2pts; 5 Curro Salt Rock 1pt

Pool B

1 Our Lady of Fatima 16pts; 2 Reddam House uMhlanga 12pts; 3 Durban North College 5pts; 4 Northlands Girls’ High School 4pts; 5 Crawford North Coast 1pt

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge 2026 Date Announcement

Young hockey players are preparing themselves for the eight weekends of jam-packed action at the hugely popular SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge that takes place around KZN in the build up to the Grand Finals. 

Now in its 16th year, the tournament travels to ten regionals where the winner of each qualifies for the prestigious conclusion. The top ten teams head to the Grand Finals which takes place over two days at St Mary’s DSG (Kloof) with the pool games unfolding on Saturday 25 July followed by the cross pool and positional games on Sunday 26 July. 

On track and steaming ahead for a fantastic 16th year of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge, Nozipho Mkhize (Advertising and Sponsorship Manager, SPAR KZN) and Les Galloway (Tournament Director and Head of Hockey, SchoolGirl Sport) are shortly after the dates for the 2026 challenges were announced. Pic by Val Adamson

All challenges will stick to a similar pattern with teams needing to find their groove early on in the quick-fire, fast-paced, thrilling variant with the format either being round robins or pool games. 

Getting the ball rolling, Crawford La Lucia will host the first challenge with teams from the Durban North Regional descending on their astro on Sunday 1 March. Amanzimtoti High School welcomes teams at 3 Schools Trust for the Durban South Regional on Saturday 7 March. 

In the first of two back-to-back weekends in March, schools from around Pietermaritzburg and surrounds gear up for the Midlands encounter. Epworth School’s astro is the venue for the Pietermaritzburg Central Regional on Saturday 14 March, with the Pietermaritzburg North Regional heading to St Anne’s Diocesan on Sunday 15 March. Wrapping up the local tournaments, Westville Girls’ High plays host to the Highway Regional on Saturday 21 March and St Henry’s Marist College will take on teams in the Durban Central Regional at 3 Schools Trust on Sunday 22 March.

After a month-long break, it will be a ‘whistle stop tour’ for the final four regionals to the outlying areas. Grantleigh School will host schools from Richards Bay and Empangeni for the North Coastal Regional on Saturday 2 May. The next weekend, the biggest regional, the Southern KZN Regional gather at Kokstad College where teams from the South Coast all the way through to Matatiele and Kokstad will meet on Saturday 9 May.

Heading inland for the penultimate challenge, Ferrum High School hopes for a home turf advantage when teams from Vryheid, Glencoe, Pongola and Newcastle assemble for the Northern KZN Regional on Saturday 23 May. Completing the tenth challenge, Wembley College greets their opposition from Greytown, Ladysmith, Wartburg and surrounds for the uMvoti and oThukela Regional on Saturday 30 May.

At the conclusion of the 2026 regionals, the tournaments tally rolls over to 140 regionals around KZN, plus 13 Grand Finals since its inception in 2011. Over the fifteen years, 33 schools have earned a spot at the Grand Finals, where only three schools have their names engraved on the magnificent trophy, that of Durban Girls’ College, St Anne’s Diocesan and St Mary’s D.S.G. 

Adding another 10 regionals, and one more Grand Finals to the impressive history of this tournament, will a new name feature on the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge trophy? We wait and see! 

For more information, follow the tournament on Facebook: SparSchoolGirlsHockeyTournament and Instagram  sparkznhockey or TikTok spar.kzn.hockey or hashtags:

#HeartoftheCommunity #SuperLocal #MyKZNSPAR #MySPAR

ENDS

1 March -  Durban North Regional - Crawford La Lucia

7 March -  Durban South - 3 Schools Trust - Toti

14 March – Pietermaritzburg Central - Epworth

15 March - Pietermaritzburg North - St Anne's 

21 March -  Highway - Westville Girls' High

22 March -  Durban Central - 3 Schools Trust - St Henry's 

2 May     -  Grantleigh

9 May    -  KZN South - Kokstad College

23 May  -  KZN North - Ferrum, Newcastle 

30 May - Wembley College (PMB side of Greytown)

25/26 July Grand Finals

SPAR KZN uplifts women in Sport 2025

SPAR KZN continues to proudly uplift women in sport in 2025 with their commitment to women’s athletics, schoolgirls’ hockey and netball in the province, celebrating incredible milestones,.

“We are referring to 2025 as our ‘big five’ year at SPAR KZN,” shared Menelisi Luthuli, Marketing Director for SPAR KZN. “The year is 2025 and we are applauding five years for our netball tournament, 15 years for our hockey challenge, and 35 years for our Durban Women’s race.”

Celebrations are in order. SPAR KZN applaud the milestones for their sports events this year. Pictured here are Brad Glasspoole (Race Director for SPAR KZN Women’s Challenge), Nozi Mkhize (SPAR KZN’s Advertising & Sponsorship Manager), and Les Galloway (SchoolGirlsSports Director for both the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey and Netball Challenges). Pic by Val Adamson

Celebrating 35, the renowned Durban SPAR Women’s 10/5km Challenge is diarised for Sunday 22 June. The inaugural race that began in 1990 had a small field of 2,200 participants. With the start on the then-NMR Avenue, outside Kings Park Athletic Stadium, saw Colleen de Reuk historically breaking the tape on the athletic track in an impressive time of 34.16. Currently, Namibian Helalia Johannes holds the fastest 10km time, blitzing her way around the new fast, flat Durban route in 31.18 in 2019. 

Over the 34 years, the women’s race has enjoyed encouraging 369,406 participants to share their morning running around Durban’s scenic spots. The biggest field competing in 2015 had a field of 17,607. Moulding the event into a top tier triumph that everyone looks forward to, Race Director, Brad Glasspoole and his team works tirelessly to create a smooth experience from start to finish. Preparations are well underway to make the 35th race a memorable one. 

Tipping off the sporting year for SPAR KZN, the first of ten hockey tournaments takes place at Curro Hillcrest with the Highway Regional on Saturday 8 March. The tremendously successful SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge began in 2011, a vision of Tournament Director Les Galloway from SchoolGirlSport. 

Fifteen years later, the tournament has had 130 victorious teams hoist their trophies after their regionals. The tournament is split up into ten regionals with a Grand Final rounding off the annual challenge. 32 schools have participated in the Grand Finals with three schools being crowned the overall Grand Finals champions, St Anne’s College, St Mary’s D.S.G. and Durban Girls’ College. 

The newest addition to the KZN sporting stable, leading up to the 2023 Netball World Cup held in Cape Town, SPAR KZN and SchoolGirlSport created the only Fast 5’s tournament in the province for schoolgirls. In 2019 the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Fast 5’s Netball Challenge was launched. Beginning with only four tournaments, it quickly grew to seven after its well-received inception. Expanding to eight tournaments in the challenge’s fourth year, the Fast 5’s Challenge is looking forward to continuing growing in its fifth year, and beyond. 

Eighteen teams have conquered their opponents in the 25 different regionals held since 2019 with Hillcrest High School; Durban Girls’ College and Dundee High School earning themselves double victories and Shayamoya Area Secondary School and Kingsway High School earning triple titles. Having wrapped up the 2024 season, Tournament Director, Marguerite Wagner is hard at work creating a memorable fifth year.

Luthuli concludes, ‘We worked out that over the 35 years, SPAR KZN has directly interacted and encouraged being healthier with just under 600,000 people through these three events – everyone from athletes to referees, coaches and managers and spectators. A truly phenomenal figure!’

For more info on all the events, please visit www.spar.co.za or find out more on the individual social media channels. 

ENDS

Results SPAR KZN Schoolgirls Hockey Challenge uMvoti and oThukela Regional

With back-to-back victories, Ladysmith High School defended their title in spectacular fashion at the uMvoti and oThukela Regional in the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge that took place at Greytown High School on Saturday 4 May.

Finishing second on the log after a rousing round robin stage, they met host school, Greytown High School in the regional final. Greytown topped the log with 18 points. They had a grand day out, winning all but two games. They drew against Wembley in their opening game and Wartburg. Ladysmith finished four points behind, having gone down to Greytown in their first meeting, and drawing against Estcourt High School and Domino Servite School.

Expressions. Ladysmith High School’s captain, Nkanyezi Gwija is pictured executing an attack as Hermannsburg’s School’s Kuhlekonke Mkhize desperately tries to intercept during their round robin game at the uMvoti and oThukela Regional at the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls Hockey Challenge held at Greytown High School on Saturday 4 May. Pic by Val Adamson

Perseverance was the name of Ladysmith’s game, spending majority of their final defending against the determined hosts. In a superb break 6 minutes in, their first attack of the game, Ladysmith spent 35 seconds crafting their attempt. Kiana Chedie fired in a shot from midway in the circle but the wily, on-her-toes keeper from Greytown, Luleko Nala pounced on the endeavour, but unfortunately sent the ball directly back to Chedie who with lightning-fast reflexes, returned the ball, sneaking it past an unbalanced Nala, netting the first goal against Greytown and Nala that day, and, of course, the crucial tournament winning goal.

The remainder of the game was played out in midfield with an occasional break on either side that didn’t amount to much. 13 minutes into the game Greytown had a scramble directly in front of the Ladysmith box, but the visitors managed to calmly evade an equaliser. Both teams earned a short corner, with Greytown blasting a rocket wide of Ladysmith’s goal and Ladysmith conjuring up a last-minute set piece that withered to nothing, but with their precious goal a quarter into the final meant they impressively keep the trophy and advance to the Grand Finals.

In the build up to the finals, all five previous champions were untiring in their attempt to advance. Going into the main game, a successful Wembley College would have progressed, knocking out Ladysmith on goal difference as they would have both been level on 14 points, but a resolute Wartburg Kirchdorf School held Wembley to a dramatic nil nil draw, extinguishing their golden ticket possibility.

Umpire of the Day went to recently matriculated Lisi Engelbrecht from Wartburg Kirchdorf School. Engelbrecht has played in this SPAR hockey regional since Grade 8, missing only one year due to CoViD. She has also been to a Grand Final with Wartburg in 2019 and now is proudly supporting her alma mater with a whistle.

Ladysmith High School is the ninth team to qualify for the Grand Finals that will be held at St Mary’s D.S.G. in Kloof in July. They join Durban Girls’ College (Durban Central Regional), The Wykeham Collegiate (Pietermaritzburg North Regional); St John’s D.S.G. (Pietermaritzburg Central Regional); Our Lady of Fatima (Durban North Regional), St Mary’s DSG (Highway Regional); Amanzimtoti High School (Durban South Regional); Grantleigh School (KZN North Coastal Regional) and St Patrick’s College (Ugu and Sisonke Regional).

The final team to join them will be revealed this weekend (Saturday 11 May) as ten teams gather for the Northern KZN Regional being hosted by Ferrum High School. All games will be live streamed on SuperSport Schools. For more info like the tournament’s Facebook page (SparSchoolGirlsHockeyTournament) or follow on Instagram (sparkznhockey).  

Results

Regional Final

Greytown High School 0 vs Ladysmith High School 1

Round Robin Results

1 Greytown High School 18 points; 2 Ladysmith High School 14 points; 3 Wembley College 11 points; 4 Domino Servite School 11 points; 5 Wartburg Kirchdorf School 10 points; =6 Hermannsburg School 2 points =6 Estcourt High School 2 points

ENDS

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge Pietermaritzburg Central Regional 10 March

Seven teams take to the fields for the upcoming Pietermaritzburg Central Regional of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge on Sunday 10 March, hosted by Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School. 

Game faces. Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School’s Leboga Molale and Siyamthanda Majikijela gear up to hosts teams for the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge’s Pietermaritzburg Central Regional at the UKZN fields on Sunday 10 March. Pic by Val Adamson

Meeting on the UKZN astro, the fixtures follow the tournament’s familiar style with a round robin format of 21 quick fire games lasting 18 minutes each of running time. The challenge gets underway at 8am. The local schools participating are Alexandra High School, Carter High School, Epworth School, Maritzburg Christian School, Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School, Russell High School and St John’s D.S.G..

Tipping off the fun-filled day, the first game features Carter High School and Russell High School. Points will be awarded after each game, to the winning team they will earn 4 points, if both teams draw having scored an equal amounts of goals, they will each earn 2 points. For a goalless draw, each team will walk away with 1 point and for the losing team, zero points will be registered on their tally. 

The two top teams will then face off in a much anticipated regional final. The Pietermaritzburg Central Regional has produced three teams that have gone on to represent their area at the conclusion for the competitive teams - the Grand Finals. Both the host of this regional - Epworth School, and St John’s D.S.G. have appeared twice at the Grand Finals, while Epworth also won in 2020, the disrupted CoViD year which had no Grand Final. Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School dominated the region with six successive victories in a row when the tournament began in 2011, and they were crowned champion last year so are this year’s defending champs. 

 Two teams will have secured their ticket at this year’s Grand Finals by 10 March. So far a team from the Durban Central Regional (played on 2 March) and a second team representing the Pietermaritzburg North Regional would have been crowned the day before the PMB Central Regional plays out. All the regional champions will head to St Mary’s D.S.G. to compete in an action-packed two days of top schoolgirls’ hockey at the Grand Finals.

Adding to this year’s challenge, scouts from eta College will be at each of the regionals, watching potential players that they can offer a bursary to their Durban Campus. The bursary will be presented at the Grand Finals. 

 For more info like the tournament’s Facebook page (SparSchoolGirlsHockeyTournament) or follow on Instagram (sparkznhockey).

All games will be livestreamed on the SuperSport Schools App or on their website. 

ENDS

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge Durban Central Regional 2 March

Kicking off the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge, Maris Stella welcomes teams for the Durban Central Regional on Saturday 2 March. 

The first tournament will take place at a new venue for this regional, on Durban High School’s smart blue astro turf. Maris Stella will host six schools in a round robin tournament. They will be taking on Durban Girls’ College, Durban Girls’ High School, Inanda Seminary, INK Schools (comprising players from Inanda and KwaMashu), Port Natal High School and St Henry’s Marist College. 

First to play in the 21 round robin games, will be defending champions Durban Girls’ College. They will meet Inanda Seminary. All games will be 18 minutes running time, with a win earning 4 points, a draw with goals adding 2 points to the tally, a goalless draw only 1 point and a loss amounting to zero. 

In the build up to the main game, Durban Girls’ College will take on Durban Girls’ High School in the concluding round robin game. The two met in an action-packed gold medal game last year. The only team in the KZN tournament with a 100% record in the regionals is Durban Girls’ College. Having advanced to the Grand Finals each year since the tournament’s inception. 

The top teams from all of the regionals will head to the Grand Finals where they will meet in a two day highly contested conclusion that will take place in July at St Mary’s D.S.G. 

Scouts from eta College will be at each of the regionals, watching potential players that they can offer a bursary to their Durban Campus. 

All games will be live streamed on SuperSport Schools. For more info like the tournament’s Facebook page - SparSchoolGirlsHockeyTournament or follow on Instagram - sparkznhockey.
ENDS

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge 2024 Challenge Dates Announced

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge

2024 Challenge Dates Announced for Popular Hockey Regionals

Entering the tournament’s 14th year, dates for the 2024 SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge have been announced.

Up for grabs. Pictured holding the trophy that will be won at the Grand Finals in are Nomfundo Shezi (Sponsorship Controller and Events, SPAR KZN), Nozipho Mkhize (Advertising and Sponsorship Manager, SPAR KZN) and Les Galloway (Tournament Director and Head of Hockey, SchoolGirl Sport).

The tournament that began in 2011 has fast become a firm favourite for young hockey players. Close to 75 girls’ first teams from high schools around KwaZulu-Natal will take to the various hockey fields to compete in the compact and exciting ten regionals in the build-up to the Grand Finals that takes place in July.

The much-anticipated schoolgirls’ annual hockey challenge kicks off with Maris Stella hosting the first tournament, the Durban Central Regional, on Saturday 2 March at Durban High School’s impressive blue astro turf - a new venue for this regional.

Back-to-back action in Pietermaritzburg will be hosted by the two defending regional champs:  on Saturday 9 March, The Wykeham Collegiate welcome teams participating in the Pietermaritzburg North Regional to their home turf, while Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School hosts teams for the Pietermaritzburg Central Regional at the UKZN fields on Sunday 10 March.

Another action-packed weekend features the Durban North Regional that takes place at Curro Salt Rock, in Ballito on Saturday 16 March, and the highly competitive Highway Regional at Westville Girls’ High School the next day, Sunday 17 March.

Tipping off the April tournaments, New Forest High School hosts the Durban South Regional at the 3 Schools Trust astro turf, in Glenwood on Saturday 6 April. A week later, heading north, Grantleigh College  is the venue for the North Coast Regional. The defending champs will host schools from Richards Bay and surrounds on Saturday 13 April. Concluding the April action, St Patrick’s College in Kokstad will be a hive of hockey activity on Saturday 20 April for the Sisonke and Ugu Regional.

The penultimate tournament, the uMvoti and oThukela Regional travels to Greytown High on Saturday 4 May. Wrapping up the ten regionals, the KZN Northern Regional commences at Ferrum Hoërskool in Newcastle on Saturday 11 May.

All of the regional champions will head to the tournament’s exciting conclusion – the Grand Finals. The top ten teams will take to the turf at St Mary’s DSG in Kloof on 20 and 21 July.

Offering a lucky hockey player a golden opportunity, eta College will be joining forces with the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge awarding a one year bursary at the Durban Campus. Eta College has nine campuses around South Africa, focusing on education for fitness, sport and recreational needs. The big reveal will take place at the Grand Finals where the fortunate young woman will be presented with this phenomenal opportunity.

All games will be live streamed on SuperSport Schools. For more info like the tournament’s Facebook page SparSchoolGirlsHockeyTournament or follow on Instagram sparkznhockey.

ENDS

Northern KZN Coastal Regional Grantleigh College: Saturday 21 May

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge

Northern KZN Coastal Regional

Grantleigh College: Saturday 21 May

Concluding this year’s ten KZN regionals, Grantleigh College hosts the final SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge on Saturday 21 May.

In the North Coast Regional, Grantleigh College welcomes schools from Empangeni High School, Eshowe High School, Felixton College, John Ross College, Richards Bay Christian School and St Catherine’s School. 

The seven schools will take to the turf in a round robin format where the games will last 18 minutes, with play running only one way. After the 21 scheduled games, the top two teams on the leaderboard will meet each other in the regional decider. The final will be 20 minutes one way. If the game ends on a draw, three players from each team will head to the spot for a riveting penalty shoot-out. 

For each of the winning teams in the 21 rounds, they will earn 4 points on the leaderboard, if the teams draw with both netting goals, they get 2 points each, a goalless draw will see a single point being added to each of the teams’ scorecards, and a loss amounting to zero points. 

Three teams proudly have their names engraved on the North Coast Regional trophy, with Grantleigh being the defending champions, and winning on three previous occasions, equalling Empangeni High School record from the early days when they dominated this region with four wins in succession. Felixton College have lifted the trophy twice and featured in the regional final last year against the hosts.  

At the conclusion of the ten KZN regionals, the top team representing their area heads to the Grand Finals that takes place at St Mary’s D.S.G. in Kloof on 23 and 24 July. The winner of this region will join nine victorious teams that have already earned their spot, they are Pionier Hoërskool (Northern KZN Regional); St Anne’s College (PMB North Regional); St John’s D.S.G. (PMB Central Regional); Our Lady of Fatima (DBN North Regional); St Mary’s D.S.G. (Highway Regional); Kuswag Hoërskool (DBN South Regional); King Edward High School (Ugu and Sisonke Regional); Domino Servite (uMvoti and oThukela Regional) and the most recently crowned team Durban Girls’ College from last weekend’s Durban Central Regional. 

If you are unable to get to the sidelines at Grantleigh this weekend, you can watch all the action on the SuperSport Schools mobile App or on their website. 

For more info like the tournament's Facebook page or follow on Instagram. 

ENDS

Westville Girls to host Highway Regional of SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge

Highway Regional

Westville Girls’ High School: Sunday 13 March

Nearing midway in the 2020 SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge, the fifth tournament takes place at Westville Girls’ High School where first teams will meet for the Highway Regional on Sunday 13 March.

Joining host school, Westville are Curro Hillcrest, Gelofte High School, Hillcrest High School, Kloof High School, St Mary’s DSG Kloof and Thomas More College.

The seven teams will have 18 minutes of turf time to create some magic on the field. The programme for the day has Westville meeting Thomas More in the first game at 8am. The format for the day is a round robin, where a win earns the team 4 points, a draw with goals 2 points, a goalless draw 1 point and zero points for a loss. 

In the event of teams being equal on points at the end of the round robin, the positions will be determined by goal difference or goals for or goals against and should there still be a tie, then a penalty shootout will take place between three players from those teams. After the round robin, the top two teams with the highest scores will play in the final to determine first and second place. Should the game end in a draw, the final heads to the penalty shootout for the regional decider. 

Over the years, St Mary’s DSG have dominated this regional with appearances in all but one Grand Final. In 2014, a courageous team from Westville Girls managed to topple Saints in the regional and make their first appearance at the Grand Finals. After 22 games in this round robin, the 2022 winner will be revealed. 

The Grand Finals features each of the ten regional winners over two days of action-packed hockey. The victorious team from the Highway Regional will join teams already through to the Grand Finals that takes place at St Mary’s DSG in Kloof in July. Teams that have secured their berth at the finals are newcomer Pionier Hoërskool (Northern KZN Regional); St John’s D.S.G. (PMB Central Regional) and St Anne’s (PMB North Regional). The fourth tournament, the DBN North Regional, takes place the day before the Highway Regional. 

For more info like the tournament’s Facebook page or follow on Instagram. All of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge tournaments will be live streamed by Supersport Schools on their app or website. 

ENDS

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge Grantleigh College Results: Saturday 15 May

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge

Grantleigh College: Saturday 15 May

After a two year break, Grantleigh College reclaimed the North Coast Regional title of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge for the fourth time on Saturday 15 May.

Host school, Grantleigh met defending champs, Felixton College in the regional final. Felixton dominated the opening period of play but never quite got into the Grantleigh circle to fire off a shot. After 5 minutes of defense, Grantleigh managed, for the first time, to get into Felixton’s half but the surge was short lived as a number of infringements allowed Felixton back into the Grantleigh 22. 

With majority of the action in the first period taking place in the midfield, Grantleigh managed to break the defensive shackles and make a run for the Felixton goal. Nearing 8 minutes of play, Grantleigh earned a long corner. A Felixton defender didn’t manage to keep her distance from the start of the set piece and was directed to the sin bin for 2 minutes. This resulted in the first short corner of the game. 

Grantleigh’s first short corner attempt went to the castle, with a thundering shot being fired in but only going as far as a dashing first wave’s right boot. In the re-take of the short corner, Grantleigh changed up their attack, with the ball pinballing around the top of the circle, but were unable to capitalize.  

Felixton had a slight breather after 90 seconds of play in their danger zone, the ball was cleared for the host’s second long corner. Grantleigh took advantage of the last few seconds of a 10 strong Felixton team, rocketing in the ball from just outside the circle in the hopes of finding a team-mate’s stick along the way. A lucky Josie Reilly was in the right place at the right time and managed to ricochet the shot into the Felixton net taking her team 1-0 up. 

Captain for Grantleigh, Jessica du Plessis attempted to increase the lead 5 minutes later but an alert Senamile Mhlaba from Felixton magnificently charged down the shot. With 3 and a half minutes left of play, Grantleigh was awarded their third short corner but the Felixton defenders didn’t allow them any room, getting the ball out neatly. 

As the game neared full time, Carla Janse van Rensburg found herself on the Felixton post with no defender marking her. Receiving the ball, she tried to chip in a sneaky shot, but an on-her-toes Mhlaba hugging the post, punched it away easily. 

In the earlier Round Robin game between the two teams, the hosts netted two goals with Josie Reilly and Michaela Hagemeier scoring for Grantleigh.

This is the fourth Regional in the Take Two of the celebratory tenth year of the tournament. Grantleigh join Danville Park Girls’ High who won the first tournament in the Durban North Regional. Second regional winners from the uMvoti, uThukela and uMzinyathi Regional were Wembley College, followed by St Mary’s DSG in the Highway Regional. The fifth tournament, played the following day, was hosted by Durban Girls High School with teams from around Durban CBD taking part in the Durban Central Regional with Durban Girls’ College taking the title.

For more info like the tournament’s Facebook page or follow on Instagram. 

Results

1 Grantleigh College, 2 Felixton College, 3 St Catherine’s, 4 Empangeni High School, 5 Richards Bay Christian School, 6 John Ross College

ENDS

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge - Pietermaritzburg Central and Northern Regionals

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge

Pietermaritzburg Central and Northern Regionals

St Anne’s College: Saturday 14 March

St Anne’s College plays host to the upcoming SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge this coming weekend whereby both the Pietermaritzburg Central and Northern Regionals will be played on their two astro turfs.

With home turf advantage, host school St Anne’s College will hope that they can continue their dominance in the Pietermaritzburg Northern Regional. They will take on Howick High School, Treverton, Grace College, Voortrekker High School and The Wykeham Collegiate. The games will all be 25 minutes one way running time. 

Across the way defending champions, Epworth School will be keen to take their third title in the Pietermaritzburg Central Regional. They will meet Alexander High, Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School, St John’s D.S.G., Maritzburg Christian School and Carter High School. The games will be 20 minutes one way running time.

Both regionals will have a round robin format. The Pietermaritzburg Northern’s top two teams will face each other on in their regional final at 2.40pm. Ten minutes later the top two teams will take to their turf to duel it out for the honours in the Pietermaritzburg Central Regional.

Only two teams have represented the northern region of Pietermaritzburg at the Grand Finals. St Anne’s have raised the trophy eight times and The Wykeham Collegiate had their name engraved on the trophy in 2012. Three teams have travelled to Durban in July. Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High dominated the area for six times, with St John’s winning once, and Epworth hunting their third title this weekend. 

Both tournaments will award 4 points for a win, a draw with goals will earn 2 points and a goalless draw only 1 point. A loss will be logged as zero points for the losing team.

The two teams to win will join three teams that have already earned a spot at the Grand Finals that will take place in July at St Marys DSG. The first team to secure a spot is newcomers from Vryheid, Hoërskool Pionier from the Northern KZN Regional. Second team that will make an appearance at the Grand Finals for a tenth time is Durban Girls’ College representing the Durban Central Regional. The third team, back again after a year’s gap is Our Lady of Fatima from the Durban North Regional. 

For more info like the tournament’s Facebook page or follow on Instagram.

ENDS

Durban Girls' College Wins Durban Central Regional - 7 March 2020

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge

Durban Central Regional

Durban Girls’ College: Saturday 7 March

Maintaining their 100% record, Durban Girls College was crowned the Durban Central Regional winners of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge for the tenth time on Saturday 7 March.

College is the only team in the tournament to have a 100% appearance at the Grand Finals, which takes place later this year at St Mary’s DSG. College has an illustrious history in the ten years of the SPAR tournament notching up three golds, three silvers, a bronze and two fourths in their ten runs at the Grand Finals.

The victorious defending champs were made to work for their success in the regional final, meeting the lioness Durban Girls’ High School team. It was the second time the two teams met each other at the regional, with the first meeting going College’s way with only a solitary goal scored by Olivia Sharratt for the host school. Durban Girls’ High School’s defence stood solid only allowing 2 goals in with a barrage of attempts. Led by Girls’ High’s keeper, Nkazi Cele who commanded her troops tirelessly from the back. The first was on a back-to-back short corner, with the clock ticking past 2 and a half minutes played. The first short corner was awarded, with a heroic charge down by Girls’ High giving College another shortie attempt. The ball got pushed to the castle and Jenna Stichelbout’s shot deflected twice before slotting neatly into the goals.

Their second goal went in near mid-time. Livewire, Bulelwa ‘BB’ Mzimela pierced Girls’ High School’s circle and quickly passed the ball to a perfectly placed Amanda Holmes who easily tapped the ball across the line, giving her team a 2 nil advantage.

With endless surging into the DGHS circle, the visiting team managed to turn the game around and get into College’s circle as the clock ticked down with 2 and a half minutes remaining. The strong College back line didn’t allow the last minute breaks to amount to anything.

Leading up to the final College defeated St Henry’s. Early in the game, College earned a short corner and capitalized with a low flick finding the back of the box in the only goal in the first semi-final. In the second semi-final Girls’ High took on a determined Maris Stella. In a level pegged game, the score was nil nil. The game rolled into a penalty shoot-out, which Girls’ High secured in their third round. Scores remained unmoved for the first 5 attempts taken by both teams, but a determined run in by Tameka Pillay, followed by a quick release saw her shot fly into the net and earning an opportunity to dethrone Girls’ College.

In the bronze game between St Henry’s and Maris Stella. The game ping-ponged between the two 22s. The first time a team got into a circle, 7 minutes of play had ticked away. St Henry’s were the first team to take a crack at the goals after 12 minutes of play. A minute later Maris Stella had their first shot on the opposite end, with their chance being halted by a diving keeper.

With just over 3 minutes left, play was sent down the right with a number of crisp, sharp passes finding Sarah Proctor camped out mid-circle. Proctor calmly cashed in directing the pass neatly into the St Henry’s box scoring the game winning goal and securing third place for Maris Stella.

Umpire of the Day was awarded to the young Melissa Calitz from St Henry's.

College is the second team to secure a spot at the Grand Finals, first to earn a place are newcomers Hoerskool Pionier from Northern KZN. On Sunday Our Lady of Fatima from Durban North Regional were the third team to gain a berth at the Grand Finals that will take place at St Mary’s DSG in July.

ENDS

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge Northern KZN Regional Pionier High School: Wrap up

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge

Northern KZN Regional

Pionier High School: Saturday 29 February

Northern KZN Regional has a new winner, that of host school Hoërskool Pionier which took the title in a scintillating final of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge on Saturday 29 February.

Hoërskool Pionier had a cracker of a day, starting their efforts off with a 5 nil victory and continued their winning streak all the way to the final where they met St Dominics Newcastle School. 

St Doms started the regional final with a spring in their step as they worked their way to the Pionier goal from the whistle. The visiting team opened their account with an absolute pearler of a goal when Vanessa Abudo entered the circle left of goal, slapped the ball in from the top of the D, passed the waiting keeper, Chrysna van Rhyn’s defence to a cleverly placed Andiswa Mhlongo camping out on the right post. Mhlongo calmly popped the ball across the line, netting the first goal. 

After 8 minutes, the home team started chipping away at St Dominics Newcastle’s dominance when they broke into the opposition’s circle and earned a short corner after 8 minutes and 21 seconds. They set up a basic attack, with the ball getting trapped at the castle and then being rocketed towards the goals, but a brave charge-down stopped Pionier’s first real attempt. 

After a few more unsuccessful short corners, Pionier magiced up an equalizer after a scramble in the St Dom’s circle resulted in the ball slipping across the line. The game was then 1 all with only 2 and a half minutes of play left. St Dom’s response was a solitary break from midfield with the player running out of turf, pushing the ball in from the right only to find no support from her players. 

As the game time ran out, the action moved to the pressure spot where three players from each team got a chance for a penalty shoot out. Pionier started the proceedings nailing the first one, with St Dom’s rising to the challenge, and also finding the back of the box on their first penalty. The second round saw both teams slot in their attempts. In the final round Pionier’s Berne van Heerden’s flick went wide giving St Dom’s captain, Nosipho Magula’s a tournament winning chance but it wasn’t to be as her attempt agonisingly didn’t get the rewards. 

The title of the tournament went to sudden death with St Dom’s stepping up to the spot first. Abudo earlier game time success didn’t continue to the spot and her chance went abegging giving Pionier’s Charnique Oosthuizen a tournament winning chance. Oosthuizen rose to the occasion, pummelling in her shot, past the advances of keeper, van Rhyn and earning the regional honours for Pionier. 

Pionier is the third team to earn the title of Northern KZN champion, claiming the title from the defending champs Ferrum, who have won the trophy eight times. Pionier met Ferrum in the second semi final and knocked out the defending champs with two goals scored by Oosthuizen and Kayla Becker. In the first semi final, St Dom’s were victorious with a 2 nil win against Dundee High School. Awande Mbuli and Vanessa Abudo netted the two for St Dom’s in the semi. 

Pionier is the first team to earn a spot at the Grand Finals which will take place at St Mary’s DSG in Kloof in July. This weekend (7 & * March) the tournament continues with two more regionals taking place at Durban Girls’ College and Ashton International. 

For more info like the tournament’s Facebook page and follow on Instagram.

ENDS

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge Northern KZN Regional Pionier High School: Saturday 29 February

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge

Northern KZN Regional

Pionier High School: Saturday 29 February

Getting a jump on the hockey year, the tenth SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge gets underway with the first of its ten regionals taking place at Hoërskool Pionier on Saturday 29 February.

The Northern KZN Regional hosts eight first teams from its expansive outlying areas. The teams will be split into two pools, with the host school having a tough task taking on one-time winners, Sarel Cilliers who placed second overall last year; Dundee High School will hope to improve on their fourth from last year and Vryheid Landbou which makes a welcome return to this tournament,  in Pool B.

In Pool A, defending champs Ferrum High School hope to retain their dominance in this regional, with eight crownings out of nine regional tournaments. The tight outfit will meet St Dominics School who finished in third last year. Rounding off the teams in this pool are Vryheid High School and Newcastle High School.

Games lasting 20 minutes one way will take place on one field. A win in the pool games will earn a team 4 points, a draw with goals notches up 2 points, a goalless draw only 1 point and zero points for a loss. 

Tipping off the 100th overall tournament, defending champs Ferrum High School will match up against St Dominics School at 7.30am. Next to square off are Vryheid High School versus Newcastle High School. The third pool game will be the 2016 regional winners, Sarel Cilliers who take on Dundee High School. Pionier will meet Vryheid Landbou in their first match of the day.

After 12 games of action-packed skills, the tournament proceeds to a cross pool play-off. The positional games begins with the seventh and eighth play-off, rolling into the first semi-final at 13.25. Twenty minutes later the second team to earn a spot in the regional final will be revealed after the second semi-final. The fifth and sixth placed game will give the four top teams a breather before the penultimate third position game followed by the concluding regional final.

If scores are level in the semi-finals, third and fourth place game and the regional final, the game will be decided by a three players penalty shoot-out. 

The SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge heads to the coast for the Durban Central Regional hosted by Durban Girls’ College on Saturday 7 March followed by the Durban North Regional taking place at Ashton International College in Ballito on Sunday 8 March.

For more info like the tournament’s Facebook page or follow the tournament on Instagram.