South African Women’s Hockey 5s squad add new members to their team
The first-ever South African Women’s Hockey5s Squad has selected three learners from a local school to join their squad.
St Stithians Girls College excitedly shared that not one but three of their very own had been selected for the first-ever South African Women’s Hockey 5s squad.
The selectees are Grade 10 learner Reabetswe Phume, Girls College teacher Sylvia van Jaarsveldt, and Girls Prep teacher Mmatshepo Modipane. All three shared that they felt honoured to be selected for the team, privileged to represent their country in green and gold and show off their South African hockey talent to the world.
“It’s always great knowing that someone out there is always watching your hard work and progress, creating that sense of fulfilment and achievement,” said Van Jaarsveldt. Modipane and Van Jaarsveldt have been seasoned national players since 2017 as they had both participated in the South African women’s hockey team. Phume caught the attention of scouters through her performance in the U21 Southerns team in the Interprovincial Tournament (IPT).
Following the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China, Hockey 5s was born and has been popularly growing internationally. St Stithians College media, PR and communications manager Annie Fyfe-Hitchings shared that it was similar to Rugby 7s but Hockey 5s entailed two teams which included five players each, opposing the standard of 11 players over a 20-minute period – two halves of 10 minutes with a two-minute break.
“It is a fast small-sided game that uses specially designed boards that surround the perimeter of the field to keep the ball in play, similar to indoor hockey,” said Fyfe-Hitchings. She added that with just five players per team on the field, they expected players to have more ball-time and touches to showcase their skills.
Modipane was named goalkeeper of the IPT in 2021, thereafter the women ventured off to the South African World Cup Camp at the end of April, where additional players were selected. She shared her heartbreak after not being selected for the SA World Cup team as well as the Olympic team but little did she know that things would change after she was invited as a participant of the Hockey 5s team.
“I have also been disappointed a few times in my hockey career, but sometimes in life you just need that one person to believe in you and give you an opportunity,” said Van Jaarsveldt.
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