{"id":47026,"date":"2024-06-05T09:20:32","date_gmt":"2024-06-05T07:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=47026"},"modified":"2024-06-05T09:20:32","modified_gmt":"2024-06-05T07:20:32","slug":"ep-a-dark-horse-for-sashoc-national-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=47026","title":{"rendered":"EP a dark horse for SASHOC National Week"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Grey
Grey High School’s Luke Tait on the charge for his side during this year’s Hibbert Shield semi-final against SACS in Gqeberha. Tait will represent Eastern Province at this year’s SASHOC National Week in Bloemfontein. Photo: Grant Howard<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Eastern Province u18 A <\/strong>team is aiming to defy the odds at the SASHOC National Week<\/strong> in Bloemfontein this month.<\/p>\n

They kick off their campaign for the inter-provincial honours on Sunday, 16 June, against last year’s runners-up, Southern Gauteng A,<\/strong> at 14:10 at the University of Free State’s <\/strong>Astroturf.<\/p>\n

Catch all the action LIVE<\/strong> on SuperSport Schools<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The 2024 edition of the SASHOC National Week (formally known as the IPTs) also presents an opportunity for redemption for the Eastern Cape side, which didn’t quite fire on all cylinders last year.<\/p>\n

Playing at the same venue in 2023, coach Lyall Meyer<\/strong>‘s troops endured a disappointing campaign, resulting in them finishing in 11th, one spot above the bottom rung in the standings.<\/p>\n

In the seven matches they played, they managed only a 4-2 victory over KwaZulu-Natal Inland B<\/strong>, but they also suffered some heavy defeats, going down 1-5 against both Boland<\/strong> and KZN Coastal A<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This year, their squad has a very solid look to it. It features nine players from the in-form Grey High School<\/strong>, three from Pearson High School<\/strong>, a St Andrew’s College<\/strong> duo, and one player each from Kingswood College<\/strong>\u00a0and Westering High School<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

There are four holdovers – the Grey High duo of centre back Ben Ristow<\/strong>\u00a0and Caden Skinnette<\/strong>, and Pearson’s Zac Willimot<\/strong> and Josh Jacobs <\/strong>– from last year’s 16-player squad, whose experience should prove valuable.<\/p>\n

The Grey boys are joined by seven of their teammates in goalkeeper Kiano Broadhurst<\/strong>, Marco Giaconi<\/strong>, Kian Cambier<\/strong>, Liam Poole<\/strong>, Blake Muller<\/strong>, Athi Jansen<\/strong>, and the dangerous forward, Luke Tait.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Apart from Willimot, and Jacobs, Pearson will also be represented by Anthwone April<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The St Andrew’s College pair of David Semrau <\/strong>and Samuel Scheekter<\/strong> are included in the side, while Seth Groener,<\/strong> from Westering, and Josh Hufkie,<\/strong> from Kingswood College, complete the lineup.<\/p>\n

“Picking a team will always be difficult in terms of getting the right combinations and balance to suit the philosophy and style of play you would like to implement as a coach,” coach Meyer told SuperSport Schools Plus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“I am, however, thankful to all my fellow selectors for making this difficult task a lot easier.<\/p>\n

“It’s always good to have experience in the locker room, but the trick is how you use and impart that experience on and off the field, and I’m confident our experienced players will accept that responsibility and step up this year.”<\/p>\n

EP, for a second year running, is in Section A, where their opposition will include Southern Free State<\/strong>, Southern Gauteng A, and the KZN Inland A<\/strong> and KZN Coastal<\/strong> A<\/strong> teams.<\/p>\n

Meyer said he’s had time to study their opponents and the opposition coaches, and Eastern Province is planning to pose a stern challenge to the other title contenders.<\/p>\n

“We are fortunate to have SuperSport Schools<\/strong> cover most, if not all the big tournaments and derby days, which allows us to watch and study players, coaches, and teams from all over the country,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Most of the players and coaches also know each other well, having played against each other in these tournaments.<\/p>\n

“So, we’re well equipped and prepared, and we are backing ourselves to do well, because I believe if you want to be the best you’ve got to beat the best.”<\/p>\n

A winning start against Southern Gauteng A would certainly lay down a marker and signal that the 2024 Eastern Province team is going to pose a far stiffer challenge than last year’s outfit.<\/p>\n

The Eastern Province selectors are\u00a0Igsaan Ajam<\/strong> (convenor); Lyall Meyer <\/strong>(Alexander Road, head coach), Dayne Samboer <\/strong>(Westering, assistant coach), <\/strong>Pearson head coach Dalan Phillips<\/strong>, Kingswood College’s Jose Smith<\/strong>, St Andrew’s College’s Dean Ferreira<\/strong>, and the Grey High duo of Andrew Beynon <\/strong>and Corbyn Dolley <\/strong>(team manager).<\/p>\n

Eastern Province u18A Team<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kiano Broadhurst<\/strong> (GK) (Grey High), Ben Ristow<\/strong> (Grey High), Marco Giaconi<\/strong> (Grey High), Kian Cambier<\/strong> (Grey High), Liam Poole<\/strong> (Grey High), Blake Muller<\/strong> (Grey High), Luke Tait<\/strong> (Grey High), Caden Skinnette<\/strong> (Grey High), Athi Jansen<\/strong> (Grey High), Zac Willimot<\/strong> (Pearson High), Josh Jacobs<\/strong> (Pearson High), Anthwone April<\/strong> (Pearson High), David Semrau<\/strong> (St Andrew’s College), Samuel Scheekter<\/strong> (St Andrew’s College), Seth Groener<\/strong> (Westering High), Josh Hufkie<\/strong> (Kingswood College).<\/p>\n

Pool fixtures<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sunday, 16 June\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

14:10 – Eastern Province A vs Southern Gauteng A<\/p>\n

Monday, 17 June<\/strong><\/p>\n

08:45 – Eastern Province A vs Northern Gauteng A
\n15:35 – Eastern Province A vs KZN Coastal A<\/p>\n

Tuesday, 18 June
\n<\/strong>15:35 – Eastern Province A vs KZN Inland A<\/p>\n

Wednesday, 19 June\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

10:10 – Eastern Province A vs Southern Free State A<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Eastern Province u18 A team is aiming to defy the odds at the SASHOC National Week in Bloemfontein this month. They kick off their campaign for the inter-provincial honours on Sunday, 16 June, against last year’s runners-up, Southern Gauteng A, at 14:10 at the University of Free State’s Astroturf. Catch all the action LIVE […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":47031,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47026\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}