Glenwood hockey player competes in Commonwealth Games

LOCAL hockey player, Siyavuya Nolutshungu, is currently in Australia taking part in the Commonwealth Games.

Siyavuya recently took part in a SA Men’s Hockey bootcamp in Durban, which was the start to the team’s preparations for the games. The team took the time to sharpen their skills and fitness before they left to play against the best teams in the world.

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Siyavuya, (22), now a resident of Glenwood, started playing hockey in Grade 5 when he made the U11E hockey team.

“I volunteered to be a goalkeeper and I ended up making first team the next year. I utilised this opportunity to my advantage which earned me a small sporting bursary to Maritzburg College where my hockey career took off,” he said.

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He played for province and the SA squads throughout his tenure at Maritzburg College, and was also very involved in cultural activities while still managing to balance sport and academics. He was also part of the KZN Midlands Youth choir which toured England in 2012 for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and he sang in the Llangollen World Choir competition.

“The biggest highlight of my sporting career thus far was making my debut against Holland in Cape Town in 2017. Another highlight was competing at the Men’s Junior Hockey World Cup in India, Uttar Pradesh. We made 10th place! It was really an amazing and humbling experience,” he said.

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The Commonwealth Games will be Siyavuya’s first major tournament outside of Africa with the men’s team and he is excited about the competition.

“This year is going to be an exciting year for South African hockey as we are also preparing for the Field Hockey World Cup in India, Bhubanswar. We are currently sitting in 15th place in the world rankings, and are aiming to get into the top 10. We have great tournaments for development and exposure such as the Premier Hockey League and inter-provincial tournaments. We have a great squad with youngsters mixed with some experienced players, diversity and transformation,” he said.

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He said although hockey is a self-funded sport, the players are extremely passionate about the game and would love to see the sport grow more every day.

“We have a great team culture, but we need support from commercial companies who would buy into helping us achieve the targets we are aiming for and to help this sport grow more at development level,” he said.

In his free time, Siyavuya enjoys watching and making motivational and inspirational videos.

“I always find challenges to make myself better and to make my peers better people,” he said.

• At the time of publication South Africa fifth on the Commonwealth Game’s medal’s table with a total of  35 medals.

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