{"id":63932,"date":"2025-02-04T08:21:18","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T06:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=63932"},"modified":"2025-02-04T08:21:18","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T06:21:18","slug":"sacs-out-to-cause-more-havoc-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=63932","title":{"rendered":"SACS out to cause more havoc in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"SACS's
SACS’s Jo le Roux is one of the players to keep an eye on in 2025. Photo: Ray Chaplin Photography<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 2023 and 2024 South African College High School (SACS)<\/strong> first hockey sides will be remembered for years to come after both teams laid claim to number-one status in schoolboy hockey in South Africa.<\/p>\n

After a promising season in 2022, SACS was massively dominant the following year under the guidance of former head coach Pierre le Roux<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Le Roux led SACS on an unforgettable campaign<\/a> <\/strong>in which they won 34 out of 38 matches, drew three times, and lost only once.<\/p>\n

After laying a concrete foundation, he stepped aside, and coach Sam Holmes<\/strong> took over the reins for the 2024 season.<\/p>\n

Expectations weighed heavily on Holmes, who was eager to build on the momentum created the previous year.<\/p>\n

He had an advantage, though; he was familiar with many of the players, having coached them in the u16A side the previous year.<\/p>\n

The transition was almost seamless. Holmes didn’t change much. He backed his players and allowed them to express themselves fully.<\/p>\n

As a result, SACS, again, racked up outstanding results. They dominated in the Western Cape and around the country.<\/p>\n

They breezed through opponents during pre-season and carried that winning momentum into their weekly derby matches, which included beating their southern suburbs rivals, Bishops Diocesan College<\/strong>, Wynberg Boys’ High<\/a><\/strong>, and Rondebosch Boys’ High<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

SACS also proved a handful in the Western Province Schools Premier League <\/strong>and retained the title they had won the year before.<\/p>\n

Their only loss in 2024 was in a penalty shootout against Paul Roos Gimnasium in the Hibbert Shield final<\/a><\/strong> in Gqeberha, while an experimental team was narrowly beaten by Paarl Gimnasium in the final of the Cape Town International Tournament<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"SACS
SACS head coach Sam Holmes will be aiming for another impressive season with his team in 2025. Photo: Ray Chaplin Photography<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“It was a fantastic season; we were very happy with it, especially after we put ourselves under a lot of pressure from the 2023 dream team,” coach Holmes told SuperSport Schools Plus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“I think the boys performed very well. To finish first in the country back-to-back is no easy achievement, and that’s what we\u2019re going for in 2025.”<\/p>\n

Holmes was spoilt for choices in almost every position last season after building solid squad depth.<\/p>\n

While the forwards fired in the goals, the defence was rock-solid, and the midfield players were always up for a tussle.<\/p>\n

The coach credited his team’s success to a collective effort. “I think the nature of the team is that we were star-studded. However, it didn’t feel at any point that the game plan or the focus was around individuals, which was great to see,” the FIH Level 3-accredited coach explained.<\/p>\n

“It was good to see a collective performing week in and out. A guy like Reece [Theunis]<\/a> <\/strong>would have his night and a guy like Litha [Kraai]<\/a> <\/strong>would have his evening, but we were not overly reliant on them.<\/p>\n

“We, also, had great performances from the likes of the criminally underrated Stephen Meyer<\/strong>. It\u00a0was just an overall buy-in from everyone.”<\/p>\n

Holmes and SACS director of hockey, James Peverley<\/strong>, are justifiably proud of the team’s achievements in 2024. However, the slate is clean as they head into the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

“We are not focused whatsoever on the past and what happened in 2024,” Holmes insisted. “We started with our lengthy pre-season in late October, and we have our eyes firmly focused on the future.<\/p>\n

“When you are number one, everyone wants to come and take your spot, which means you often get a team’s best version, or a spirited version, when they play you. That presents a challenge that I and the boys relish.<\/p>\n

\"Aiden
Aiden Hughes is expected to play an integral role for SACS in 2025. Photo: Ray Chaplin Photography<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SACS will embark on a tour to The<\/strong> Netherlands<\/strong> next month before kicking off their South African season in April, against Parel Vallei<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Coach Holmes insists their goals are simple.<\/p>\n

“We are not too results-orientated. We know what’s expected of us, and we know the quality and the effort we demand at training, and that takes care of the results.<\/p>\n

“Our main goal is to play an exciting, fast-paced brand of hockey that makes people buzz and gets them out on a Friday night or gets them to travel and watch us, whether we’re in Paarl, Stellenbosch, or Belville,” he ended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2023 and 2024 South African College High School (SACS) first hockey sides will be remembered for years to come after both teams laid claim to number-one status in schoolboy hockey in South Africa. After a promising season in 2022, SACS was massively dominant the following year under the guidance of former head coach Pierre […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":63940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63932","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\/63932","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=63932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/63940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}