{"id":68762,"date":"2025-04-01T14:31:59","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T12:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=68762"},"modified":"2025-04-01T14:31:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T12:31:59","slug":"all-set-for-the-2025-st-marys-waverley-hockey-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=68762","title":{"rendered":"All set for the 2025 St Mary’s Waverley Hockey Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Caprice
Caprice Bengston will captain the defending champion, Durban Girls’ College, at the St Mary’s Waverley Hockey Festival. Photo: Brad Morgan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thirty-two of the country’s top hockey-playing schools will converge at St Mary’s Waverley<\/strong>, Johannesburg, for the prestigious annual Standard Bank St Mary’s Waverley Hockey Festival<\/strong>, which runs from 3-6 April.<\/p>\n

The hockey showcase has come a long way since its modest beginnings. Only 12 teams participated in the inaugural event in 2000. It has since grown exponentially over the years to become, arguably, the most prestigious girls’ hockey event on the South African sporting calendar.<\/p>\n

Fifty-one festival participants have gone on to represent South Africa, and another two have donned the colours of Namibia, on the international stage.<\/p>\n

The defending champions, Durban Girls’ College (DGC)<\/strong>, will kick the festival off with a tie against Penryn<\/strong> on Thursday morning. Coach Chardinay Penniston<\/strong>‘s charges are aware that they carry a target on their back as the title holders. They are, however, not focusing on their previous success. It’s a new team and a new season, and they’re eager to write their own history at the event.<\/p>\n

DGC is in Pool A and will face Die Ho\u00ebrskool Menlopark<\/strong>, Ho\u00ebrskool Waterkloof<\/strong>, Pearson High School<\/strong>, The Wykeham Collegiate (TWC)<\/strong>, Somerset College<\/strong>, the St Mary\u2019s Waverley Festival XI<\/strong>, and Penryn in the group stage.<\/p>\n

The 2023 champion, Eunice High School<\/strong>, is bristling with excitement ahead of the festival. Coach Nika Coertzen<\/strong>‘s charges also begin their campaign on Thursday morning when they take on Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It will be the third match in Pool B, which also features, Ho\u00ebr Meisieskool Bloemhof<\/strong>, Afrikaanse Ho\u00ebr Meisieskool Pretoria (Affies),<\/strong> St Andrew’s School for Girls<\/strong>, Ho\u00ebrskool Garsfontein,<\/strong> St John’s DSG<\/strong>, Roedean School,<\/strong> and Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High.<\/p>\n

The hosts, St Mary’s Waverley are on the hunt for their first title since 2011. They have lifted the trophy five times but there have been slim pickings in recent years. They’ll get Pool C’s action underway with a tricky test against Cape Town’s St Cyprian’s School<\/strong>, which has made a strong start to the season.<\/p>\n

Standing in St Mary’s Waverley’s way in Group C are St Stithians College for Girls<\/strong>, St Mary’s DSG (Kloof)<\/strong>, Rhenish Girls’ High<\/strong>, St Cyprian’s, Clarendon High School for Girls<\/strong>, Windhoek High<\/strong>, and Pretoria High School for Girls<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The seven-time winners, Oranje Meisieskool<\/strong>, are on the hunt for another trophy to adorn their resplendent trophy cabinet. However, they last lifted the title in 2022, so, given their record of success, it’s been a while since they came out on top. Coach Gys van Schalkwyk<\/strong>‘s charges face Durban’s Our Lady of Fatima <\/strong>in their opener.<\/p>\n

Their opposition in Pool D includes Paarl Gimnasium<\/strong>, St Anne’s Diocesan College<\/strong>, Herschel Girls School<\/strong>, Paarl Girls’ High School<\/strong>, Collegiate Girls’ High School<\/strong>, Our Lady of Fatima, and Kingsmead College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

DAY 1 FIXTURES<\/strong><\/p>\n

07:45 \u2013 DGC vs Penryn, 07:45<\/strong> \u2013 St Andrew’s vs Garsfontein, 08:10<\/strong> \u2013 Pearson vs Wykeham, 08:10<\/strong> \u2013 Affies vs St John’s DSG, 08:35<\/strong> \u2013 Waterkloof vs Somerset, 08:35<\/strong> \u2013 Bloemhof vs Roedean, 09:00<\/strong> \u2013 Menlopark vs St Mary’s Waverley Festival XI, 09:00<\/strong> \u2013 Eunice vs Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High, 09:30<\/strong> \u2013 St Mary’s Waverley 1st XI vs St Cyprian’s, 09:30<\/strong> \u2013 Paarl Gim vs Kingsmead, 09:55<\/strong> \u2013 Oranje vs Our Lady of Fatima, 10:20<\/strong> \u2013 Rhenish vs Clarendon, 10:20<\/strong> \u2013 Herschel vs Paarl Girls, 10:45<\/strong> \u2013 St Stithians vs Pretoria High School, 10:45<\/strong> \u2013 St Anne’s vs Collegiate, 11:15<\/strong> \u2013 Waterkloof vs TWC, 11:15<\/strong> \u2013 Affies vs Garsfontein, 11:40<\/strong> \u2013 Pearson vs Penryn, 11:40<\/strong> \u2013 Bloemhof vs St John’s DSG, 12:05<\/strong> \u2013 Eunice vs Roedean, 12:05<\/strong> \u2013 St Andrew’s vs Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High, 12:30<\/strong> \u2013 Menlopark vs Somerset, 12:30<\/strong> \u2013 DGC vs St Mary’s Waverley Festival XI, 13:00<\/strong> \u2013 St Mary’s Waverley 1st XI vs Pretoria High, 13:00<\/strong> \u2013 Herschel vs Kingsmead, 13:25<\/strong> \u2013 Paarl Gim vs Our Lady of Fatima, 13:25<\/strong> \u2013 Rhenish vs St Cyprian’s, 13:50<\/strong> \u2013 St Mary’s DSG, Kloof, vs Clarendon, 13:50<\/strong> \u2013 Oranje vs Collegiate, 14:15<\/strong> \u2013 St Anne’s vs Paarl Girls, 14:15<\/strong> \u2013 St Stithians vs Windhoek, 12:40<\/strong> \u2013 Bloemhof vs Garsfontein, 14:45<\/strong> \u2013 Eunice vs St John’s DSG, 15:05 <\/strong>\u2013 DGC vs Somerset, 15:10<\/strong> \u2013 Menlopark vs TWC, 15:30<\/strong> \u2013 Affies vs St Andrew’s, 15:35<\/strong> Waterkloof vs Pearson, 13:55<\/strong> \u2013 Roedean vs Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High, 16:00<\/strong> \u2013 St Mary’s Waverley Festival XI vs Penryn, 16:20<\/strong> \u2013 Paarl Gim vs Collegiate, 16:30<\/strong> \u2013 St Mary’s Waverley 1st XI vs Rhenish, 16:45<\/strong> \u2013 Oranje vs Paarl Girls, 16:55<\/strong> \u2013 St Mary’s DSG vs St Cyprian\u2019s, 17:10<\/strong> \u2013 Windhoek vs Pretoria High, 17:20<\/strong> \u2013 St Stithians vs Clarendon, 17:45<\/strong> \u2013 St Anne’s vs Herschel, 18:15<\/strong> \u2013 Eunice vs Garsfontein, 18:40<\/strong> \u2013 Bloemhof vs St Andrew’s, 19:05<\/strong> \u2013 Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High vs St John’s DSG, 19:30<\/strong> \u2013 St Mary’s Waverley 1st XI vs St Mary’s DSG, 20:00<\/strong> \u2013 Affies vs Roedean, 20:25<\/strong> \u2013 Our Lady of Fatima vs Kingsmead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thirty-two of the country’s top hockey-playing schools will converge at St Mary’s Waverley, Johannesburg, for the prestigious annual Standard Bank St Mary’s Waverley Hockey Festival, which runs from 3-6 April. The hockey showcase has come a long way since its modest beginnings. Only 12 teams participated in the inaugural event in 2000. It has since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":68787,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68762","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\/68762","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\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/68787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}