Ashton International College Ballito’s young sports stars recently delivered fantastic results across multiple sporting codes.

The high school boys’ indoor hockey teams wrapped up their respective seasons with great finishes, while the U14A girls’ soccer team grabbed a silver medal at a 10-school tournament in Kloof.

Boys’ indoor hockey

In their league campaign, the first team narrowly missed out on the semi-finals, but earned hard-fought draws against traditionally strong hockey schools Clifton College, Kearsney College and Glenwood High School.

These results built on last year’s upset victories over Durban High School and Kearsney.

“It has been an outstanding indoor hockey season and I am extremely proud of our boys’ commitment,” said Ashton’s head of senior college sport, Craig Currin.

“Our U14s give us great excitement for the future, while our 2nd team showed the depth of our program with a remarkable season.”

READ MORE: Ashton U14A girls’ hockey team unbeaten on way to national title | North Coast Courier

Despite not having a dedicated goalkeeper, Ashton’s 2nd team finished as runners-up in the U18C League and were the top B team overall. They lost only to Crawford La Lucia 1st (league winners) and Durban North College 1st.

The U16A team also impressed, finishing third in the U16B League behind Glenwood U16A and Northwood U16C. Ashton ranked as the top co-ed team in the division.

The standout performance came from the U14A team however, as they went unbeaten in the second division, winning all eight fixtures. They scored 47 goals and conceded just five, earning promotion to next season’s U14A league.

“As the only co-ed team in the A league, we knew we are up against it when it comes to competing against the boys’ schools. We didn’t just show up, we took it to them!” said Currin, who praised the players’ dedication despite academic pressures.

“It was extremely tough to manage this commitment this year with trials being moved to the third term. But our boys all pulled through and represented our school to the best of their abilities.”

“Ashton’s hockey continues to grow from strength to strength, reaffirming our place as one of the top co-ed boys’ hockey schools in KZN. Thank you to our coaches for their tireless work and to our players for their passion and resilience.”

READ MORE: Ashton hockey girl’s 1st XI powers to SPAR Grand Finals bronze | North Coast Courier

Girls’ U14 Soccer

Ashton’s girls’ U14A soccer team played their way to a stunning silver medal at the 10-school St Mary’s DSG U14 Soccer Tournament in Kloof on Saturday (August 30).

The Ballito team won two matches, drew one and lost one on the way to topping their pool. They scored 10 goals and only conceded three in five games, including the final.

They edged Our Lady of Fatima in their first match, which finished 2-1, before cruising to an 8-0 win against Durban Girls’ College U14B team.

Ashton went on to lose a hard-fought match against Kloof High School 1-0 before playing out a goalless draw with St John’s DSG in their final pool game.

That qualified them for a tightly-contested final against Durban Girls’ College’s U14A team, who won 1-0.

Verena Rodrigues top-scored with three goals.

“The tournament was tough but a lot of fun!” said Verena.

“The best part was supporting each other on and off the field – that made it really special.”

Ashton skipper Malaika van Leeuwen was happy with her team’s performance despite the final result.

“We pushed so hard in the first match because we knew winning it would make it easier to get into the final,” said Malaika.

“In the end, we came second overall, but it felt really good after all the effort we put in.”

Ashton head coach Sdumo Mpunga said it was a good tournament and praised his team’s efforts.

“The girls played superbly, and we gave a strong performance, but unfortunately, we didn’t win the tournament,” said Sdumo.

“It was, however, a great experience for the kids. I am proud of the girls’ improvement throughout the season.”

Pool B Results

Ashton 2-1 Our Lady of Fatima

Ashton 8-0 Durban girls College U14B

Ashton 0-1 Kloof High School

Ashton 0-0 St John’s DSG

Final

Ashton 0-1 Durban Girls’ College U14A

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