{"id":54463,"date":"2024-08-07T10:04:44","date_gmt":"2024-08-07T08:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=54463"},"modified":"2024-08-07T10:04:44","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T08:04:44","slug":"player-profile-zanike-coetzer-pearson-high-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=54463","title":{"rendered":"Player Profile: Zanike Coetzer (Pearson High School)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pearson
Skipper Zanika Coetzer and Pearson High were in action at the St Mary’s Waverley Hockey Festival in early April. Photo: Pearson High<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Pearson High School<\/a><\/strong> made the long trip from Gqeberha to the Western Cape to take on Parel Vallei\u00a0<\/strong>in their annual exchange interschools match last weekend, their captain Zanike Coetzer<\/strong> achieved a rare milestone.<\/p>\n

The clash against Parel Vallei was her final derby match, but it was also a special one as she won her 150th<\/sup> first team cap.<\/p>\n

Coetzer, who has been at Pearson since grade eight, started playing for the first side in her grade nine year, 2021.<\/p>\n

“It felt amazing reaching 150 caps,” she told SuperSport Schools Plus.<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>“I’ve been playing first team since grade nine, and I haven’t missed a single match. I knew I could make it, but getting there was quite stressful.<\/p>\n

“The journey is always the best part and getting to 150 is just special. I’m also proud of my teammate and best friend, Nina (Ferreira)<\/strong>, who will also reach 150 caps, so it’s been a journey.”<\/p>\n

Before their big interschools clash, Pearson had produced a bag of mixed results, but they were confident after claiming victory in a shootout over Collegiate Girls’ High School<\/strong> in the final of the Eastern Province Girls League<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

There were no goals in regulation time in that title-decider, but Pearson held their nerve to secure the trophy in the shootout.<\/p>\n

They were, however, beaten 0-2 by Parel Vallei. Despite that disappointment, Coetzer said she was proud of her team\u2019s efforts, and receiving her 150th<\/sup> cap in front of a large and lively crowd was special.<\/p>\n

“It was electrifying and amazing: the crowd, the atmosphere, reaching 150 in front of such a crowd was amazing,\u201d she enthused.<\/p>\n

“We tried our best, it didn’t go our way. But I still give it to our girls, and I’m so proud of them for trying their best.”<\/p>\n

Coetzer was handed the captain’s armband earlier this season when Pearson took part in the Spar Hockey Challenge<\/a><\/strong>, and they won it, beating Collegiate 1-0 in the final.<\/p>\n

She has led the team to some big wins, including a 6-0 victory over Westering High<\/strong> and a 3-0 defeat of Woodridge College<\/strong>. Then, there was a 0-0 draw against Collegiate<\/strong> at Collegiate’s 150th Reunion, which was followed by a 3-3 draw with Eunice<\/strong> in Bloemfontein last month.<\/p>\n

Despite some ups and downs, Coetzer said it’s a season she has enjoyed.<\/p>\n

\"Pearson
The Pearson 1st XI will be chasing a highlight ending to the season when they take part in the u18 Challengers’ Cup in the Western Cape, which starts on 8 August. Photo: Pearson High<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“I\u2019d sum it up as quite an experience,” the Pearson captain said.<\/p>\n

“We had a very young team, so getting to watch the younger players grow was honestly one of the ups for me.<\/p>\n

“My highlight was our game versus Collegiate in the EP Girls League final. It was our final game at home and winning it in front of our supporters was special.”<\/p>\n

Coetzer also paid tribute to her two coaches, Anton Peltenburg<\/strong>\u00a0and Ignatius Malgraff<\/strong>, who, she said, had motivated her and taught her a lot during her time at the school.<\/p>\n

Along with her teammates, Coetzer will have one last bite at the cherry this coming weekend when they take part in the u18 Challengers’ Cup<\/strong>, which will be hosted at La Rochelle Girls’ High School <\/strong>and Paarl Girls’ High<\/strong> in the Western Cape.<\/p>\n

Pearson has been drawn in Pool B,<\/strong> alongside St Mary’s Waverley<\/a><\/strong>, Fairmont High School<\/strong>, Somerset College<\/a><\/strong>, Paarl Girls’ High, and their Eastern Cape rivals, DSG Makhanda<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The side will be led by coach Peltenburg and they’ll open their challenge against Paarl Girls’ High in the tournament’s second match at 08:00 on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Coetzer believes her side can contend for the title. “I think the girls have it in them to win,” she said.<\/p>\n

“To do that, we’re going to have to communicate well and have good team spirit. All in all, we’re excited to finish off at such an amazing tournament,” she concluded.<\/p>\n

Catch all the action from the u18 Challenge\u2019s Cup LIVE<\/strong> on SuperSport Schools<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Pearson High School made the long trip from Gqeberha to the Western Cape to take on Parel Vallei\u00a0in their annual exchange interschools match last weekend, their captain Zanike Coetzer achieved a rare milestone. The clash against Parel Vallei was her final derby match, but it was also a special one as she won her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":54464,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54463","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\/54463","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=54463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54463\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}