{"id":71022,"date":"2025-04-30T07:36:59","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T05:36:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=71022"},"modified":"2025-04-30T07:36:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T05:36:59","slug":"belgotex-sport-girls-hockey-challenge-a-new-chapter-for-schoolgirl-hockey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=71022","title":{"rendered":"Belgotex Sport Girls Hockey Challenge: A new chapter for schoolgirl hockey"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_71081\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-71081\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-71081\" src=\"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/hockey-st-marys-kloof-290425-400x340.jpg\" alt=\"The St Mary's Waverley champions, St Mary's DSG, Kloof, will be one of the leading contenders at the \" width=\"400\" height=\"340\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-71081\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The St Mary&#8217;s Waverley champions, St Mary&#8217;s DSG, Kloof, will be one of the leading contenders at the inaugural Belgotex Sport Girls Hockey Challenge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Paarl will come alive when 20 of the nation&#8217;s top hockey-playing schools descend on <strong>Paarl Gimnasium<\/strong> for the inaugural <strong>Belgotex Sport Girls Hockey Challenge<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The tournament springs into action on 1 May and culminates with the final on 3 May.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This highly anticipated tournament will bring together some of the top girls&#8217; hockey teams from across the country for a weekend of thrilling competition, skill, and sportsmanship,&#8221; the event organisers said in a press release.<\/p>\n<p>A total of 52 teams, across three age groups &#8211; u14, u16, and u19 &#8211; will take to the field at the hockey extravaganza.<\/p>\n<p>The teams in the u19 tier have been placed into five groups, Pools A to E.<\/p>\n<p>Free State powerhouse <strong>C &amp; N Sekond\u00eare Meisieskool Oranje (Oranje)<\/strong> is in <strong>Pool A<\/strong> along with <strong>Durban Girls College (DGC),<\/strong> <strong>Cornwall Hill<\/strong>, and <strong>Herschel<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The hosts, Paarl Gim, have been in good form, recently winning against both Oranje and Eunice in Bloemfontein, and they will be keen to bring joy to their home fans by clinching the trophy on home soil. They are in <strong>Pool B <\/strong>where they will compete with <strong>St Mary&#8217;s Waverley<\/strong>, <strong>Springfield<\/strong>, and <strong>Fairmont<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Waterkloof<\/strong> produced a good showing at the <strong>St Stithians Easter Festival<\/strong> recently, and they will be keen to carry that form forward when they meet <strong>Pearson<\/strong>, <strong>Stellenberg<\/strong>, and <strong>Somerset College<\/strong> in <strong>Pool C<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>St Mary&#8217;s DSG Kloof<\/strong> has already added prestigious silverware to their cabinet this season, winning the St Mary&#8217;s Waverley title, and they will be eager to embrace the opportunity of adding the Girls Challenge trophy to their collection at the expense of another strong field, but they will have to get past <strong>St Cyprian\u2019s<\/strong>, <strong>Reddam Constantia<\/strong>, and <strong>St Stithians College<\/strong> in <strong>Pool D<\/strong> first.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Garsfontein<\/strong> has enjoyed a good start to the season and will have to contend with a dangerous <strong>Collegiate <\/strong>side, <strong>Durbanville<\/strong>, and <strong>Rustenburg<\/strong> in <strong>Pool E<\/strong> for a shot at the title.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This event marks an exciting milestone in the growth of women&#8217;s sports and reflects the increasing investment in providing more opportunities for young female athletes to shine.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Belgotex Sport Girls Hockey Challenge offers a chance for these talented players to perform at the highest level and make their mark on the national stage,&#8221; the organisers stated.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chris Gibson<\/strong>, one of the organisers, said spectators should look forward to three days of fast-paced, high-intensity hockey matches, showcasing individual skill and team strategy.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Belgotex Sport Girls Challenge is more than just a tournament. It is an event that will inspire the next generation of female athletes, encourage community support for women&#8217;s sports, and create lasting memories for everyone involved,\u201d the organising team said.<\/p>\n<p>Oranje and DGC will get the tournament underway in a mouthwatering opener on Thursday morning. Despite not going all the way at the St Mary&#8217;s Waverley Festival, Oranje showed glimpses of what they are capable of producing, and DGC, with a young side, is beginning to hit their stride<\/p>\n<p>Herschel and Cornwall Hill will also go head-to-head at the same time on the other field.<\/p>\n<p>The curtain will come down on the first day of the competition after Collegiate plays Rustenburg, while Garsfontein and Durbanville will cross swords on the other Astro.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FIXTURES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Thursday<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>9:00<\/strong> \u2013 Oranje vs DGC; Herschel vs Cornwall Hill<br \/>\n<strong>10:00<\/strong> &#8211; Paarl Gim vs St Mary\u2019s Waverley;\u00a0Fairmont vs Springfield<br \/>\n<strong>11:00<\/strong> &#8211; Stellenberg vs Somerset College; Waterkloof vs Pearson<br \/>\n<strong>12:00<\/strong> &#8211; Reddam Constantia vs St Stithians; St Mary&#8217;s Kloof vs St Cyprian&#8217;<br \/>\n<strong>13:00<\/strong> &#8211; Garsfontein vs Rustenburg; Collegiate vs Durbanville<br \/>\n<strong>14:00 <\/strong>&#8211; Herschel vs DGC; Oranje vs Cornwall Hill<br \/>\n<strong>15:00<\/strong> &#8211; St Mary\u2019s Waverley vs Fairmont; Paarl Gim vs Springfield<br \/>\n<strong>16:00<\/strong> &#8211; Waterkloof vs Somerset College; Pearson vs Stellenberg<br \/>\n<strong>17:00<\/strong> &#8211; St Cyprians vs St Stithians; St Mary&#8217;s Kloof vs Reddam Constantia<br \/>\n<strong>18:00<\/strong> &#8211; Collegiate vs Rustenburg; Garsfontein vs Durbanville.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paarl will come alive when 20 of the nation&#8217;s top hockey-playing schools descend on Paarl Gimnasium for the inaugural Belgotex Sport Girls Hockey Challenge. The tournament springs into action on 1 May and culminates with the final on 3 May. &#8220;This highly anticipated tournament will bring together some of the top girls&#8217; hockey teams from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":71081,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71022","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\/71022","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=71022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/71081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=71022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=71022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=71022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}