St Andrew’s hosts national U16 sports festival
Since 2022, the St Andrew’s Hockey, Netball and Squash Festival has been held and attracts schools from across the country.
The U16 PlayStation St Andrew’s Hockey, Netball, and Squash (SAHNS) Festival 2026 was a nationwide festival with schools from all across the country in attendance.
The festival took place over the weekend of March 20 -22 at St Andrew’s School for Girls.
Head of Hockey and coordinator of the festival, Lisa Deetlefs, said the festival began in 2022. “After Covid-19, no festivals were happening, and we were not allowed to travel, so we thought to just create a U16 festival locally.
“So over the years, and as Covid-19 went away, it has grown exponentially and reached a point now where we have PlayStation and Koodoo, who have invested in the festival, and it absolutely exploded,” explained Deetlefs.
She added that she saw a gap: there was no U16 festival in Johannesburg, and instead of always travelling to Durban or Cape Town, why not create something locally?
From a hockey and netball perspective, Deetlefs said the festival mimics the first-team festivals that take place a week later.
“So our format is exactly the same as what the first team would be, so it exposes the girls to what will come in terms of development over the years.”
The coordinator said SAHNS was different because it created an environment that was not a ‘win at all costs’ approach. She added, “Coming from playing sports ourselves, I know how pressure too soon can destroy a player.
The whole focus here is, yes, we’re competitive, but there has to be that fun element and enjoyment.”
Mario Dos-Santos, who looks after PlayStation and Koodoo in South Africa, said they were motivated after attending the event last year.
He said, “It was an opportunity for us to give back to the community a little bit and to support the school. Because the more we get children involved in these kinds of events, the less they are out there getting up to mischief.”
These are the SAHNS results:
Squash:
First – Durban Girls College
Second – St Andrew’s School for Girls
Third – Egoli Squash
Netball:
First – Reddam Bedfordview
Second – Redhill School
Third- St Dunstan’s College
Hockey:
First – Herschel
Second- St Mary’s Waverley
Third- Midstream College
