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 North Regional 9 March 2019

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge

Durban North Regional

Crawford La Lucia: Saturday 9 March

The third regional in the 2019 SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge gets rolling on Saturday 9 March at Crawford La Lucia.

Eight teams will gather at this year’s regional, taking to the pitch to participate in 20 minute one way running time with the teams being split up into two pools. A win will earn the team 4 points, a draw with goals 2 points and a goalless draw 1 point and a loss zero points. The cross-pool playoffs are also 20 minutes in duration, starting just before lunchtime.

Leading Pool A, defending champs Our Lady of Fatima hope to retain their regional title. Joining them are Ashton International College, Northlands Girls’ High and Durban North College. Heading up Pool B are hosts Crawford La Lucia with Danville Park Girls’ High, Crawford North Coast and Reddam House uMhlanga. 

Three teams have previously progressed to the Grand Finals representing the Durban North Regional: Fatima have made three appearances, placing fifth in three grand finals, namely in the inaugural year 2011, and then the last two consecutive years. Similar to Fatima, Ashton have also represented the region three times in the years 2013, 2015 and 2016, with their final positions at the Grand Finals being 6th, 7th and 9th while Danville have made it all the way twice in 2012 and 2014 finishing with a 6th and a 9th.

The first team on the turf are the defending champs, Fatima vs Northlands at 07.30 followed by a Crawford derby with hosts La Lucia taking on their North Coast campus.

Head Coach for Our Lady of Fatima, Jacinta Jubb enthused, “This year our team has a fantastic mix of youthful and experienced players. This powerful mix, I'm sure, will be the changing factor for our team. We have been building as a team for 2 years now, and fine-tuning our technical abilities while developing our structural understanding. The Fatima girls always play with such heart, and I feel this year all our hard work will pay off.”

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

ENDS

 Photo: Rogan Ward:

Keeping their eyes on the ball, captains Megan Coreejes (Our Lady of Fatima – defending champions) and Rachel Wilkinson (Crawford La Lucia – host school) are pictured ahead of the Durban North Regional of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge.