Former SA hockey player Louise de Jager still lives hockey
FERNDALE – Fermer SA women's hockey player, Louise de Jager describes what makes a good hockey defender.
No one has more passion for hockey than Louise de Jager.
The former SA women’s player, and current Southern Gauteng defender, ‘works’ hockey and plays hockey every day.
A 29-year-old Ferndale resident, De Jager owns BMT Sport Consulting, a company that specialises in sports massages, sports psychology and sports science.
De Jager loves her work, but it is in the evenings and on weekends that she truly comes alive.
She is always playing hockey, whether for Crusaders Hockey Club in club games, TopT Madikwe Rangers in the Premier Hockey League, or Southern Gauteng in national tournaments.
De Jager played hockey for South Africa from 2009 until 2013 but is also accomplished in other sports.
She represented South Africa at the 2004 World Gymnastics Championships in Germany, and has Gauteng colours for water polo and athletics.
At school, she did tumbling, swimming, tennis, squash, cricket and golf, but hockey was her first love.
“I first played hockey when I was five and loved it from first sight,” she reminisced at Randburg Astroturf. “I loved scoring goals and it’s still my favourite thing even though I’m a defender.”
De Jager married a fellow hockey player, Marc, and the two sometimes coach together.
She said the toughest challenges of being a defender in hockey were getting the ball out of the danger zone under immense pressure and defending inside the circle with a no-risk mindset.
When asked about the state of South Africa’s women’s hockey, De Jager said there were incredible potential and depth in hockey in the country, but the sport’s development structures were nowhere near the level of hockey’s top nations.
“What we are missing are enough high-performance structures for all ages but especially for the juniors, say those around 14 years old.”
She said not enough young players were taught the whole deal: The technical, tactical, physical, psychological and well-being aspects of hockey.
This ranges from everything from playing the game to specific muscle development to stress and diet management.
ALSO READ: St Stithians hockey girls win silver at Spar Hockey Challenge
