Hockey players vying for victory

NEWCASTLE – Come July, Newcastle will be dominating hockey fields beyond the town’s borders.

A determined squad of local hockey players will be participating and vying for top spot in the South African Country District (SACD) tournament.

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The squad will consist of 15 women from Newcastle and Dundee, who will be representing Northern KwaZulu-Natal Inland against teams hailing from a far as the Western Cape, from July 2 to July 9.

“We will be competing against teams from all over the country, and we are training hard,” said Louise Rebeiro on behalf of the team.

Aiming for gold, Louise said she had the utmost faith in her team.

“We have a lot of heart, and once we are done at the SACD, we will be looking at competing at the Inter Provincial Tournament (IPT) and then aim for as many of our women to be selected to compete on the national side,” she said eagerly.

While the group of women is looking at bringing a sense of pride back home to Newcastle, the men’s division has shown just as much promise.

Tyron Roux, Stephen Brown and Christopher Reinecke will be representing the men’s division at SACD and they will be joined by Vernon van Staden, Chris Roswell and Shameel Ayob from Dundee.

The six men will be travelling to Cape Town for their leg in the SACD from July 9 to July 15.

“We are aiming to win the tournament and as we won it last year, we are the current champions and are hoping to do it again,” Tyron said on behalf of the players.

As the hockey players eagerly await to put their skills to the test, Craig Pedersen and Tanya van Niekerk will be umpiring for the IPT to be held in Bloemfontein.

The duo are set to put their vast knowledge of hockey to the ultimate test from June 26 until July 1.

“This means a lot to me,” said Craig, who started umpiring at the age of 14.

Craig, who will be umpiring for the u/18 division at the IPT, explained that umpiring was not an easy task.

“You have to be fit, as you run just as much as the players. It is also a tough job, as people don’t always like the decisions you have to make in the match,” he said.

Despite this, he said it was an honour to have been selected.

“This will be the biggest tournament I will have ever umpired for, and it would not have been possible had it not been for Tanya,” he concluded.

For Tanya, this another notch on her belt in her illustrious hockey career.

Tanya has been a qualified umpire for nearly two decades and is the highest graded umpire in NKZN – a qualification which has seen her work as umpire manager at

IPT for five years.

Craig and Tanya are sure to do Newcastle proud.