IN PHOTOS: Eagles Hockey League takes flight again in the Lowveld
The Eagles league plays a key role in the development of hockey in the Lowveld and the province at large.
The annual Eagles Hockey League was recently held with resounding success, bringing together hockey players from across the Lowveld for two weekends of scintillating 5s hockey.
A regular fixture on the Lowveld hockey calendar since its introduction in 2020, the 2025 Eagles Hockey League was held at Uplands from November 28 to 30 and December 5 and 6. This year marked a few firsts for Eagles, too – it was the first time the tournament was played at Uplands, it saw the introduction of the masters age group and was also the first time that the tournament was played with official 5s hockey boards.
The latter two factors mark a special and noteworthy amount of growth for the Eagles Hockey League, which was founded by members of the Lowveld hockey community to help develop hockey within the region and province at large. It has in many ways achieved just that, contributing greatly to much of the success enjoyed by Mpumalanga hockey in recent years. This development is tangible not only among players, but also among coaches and officials in the Lowveld.
The league is split into five age groups; U13, U15, U17, senior and masters; with male and female categories in each of the age groups except the masters. The U13s were played on November 28, the U15s the following day and the masters men on November 30. The U17s played on December 5 and finally the seniors on December 6.
There are four franchises that participate in the league. Chicken Licken Kruger Blitz, TWK Agri Blyde Heats, Worth24 Legogote Strikers and Dynamic Hockey Panorama Swifts all battle it out for supremacy in each of the age groups all while vying for the coveted Franchise of the Year title.
The dominant force among the franchises was once again the Kruger Blitz, who won four of the nine tournaments. They won the U13 boys, U15 girls, U17 and senior men’s titles on their way to being crowned the Franchise of the Year once more.
Legogote Strikers won the U13 girls title, Panorama Swifts the U15 boys and senior ladies titles and Blyde Heats the U17 girls and masters men’s titles. In each of the tournaments an umpire, goalkeeper and player of the tournament is selected along with an all-star team.
