{"id":72174,"date":"2025-05-13T19:12:41","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T17:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=72174"},"modified":"2025-05-13T19:12:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T17:12:41","slug":"aitken-cup-action-begins-on-thursday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=72174","title":{"rendered":"Aitken Cup action begins on Thursday"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The winners of the Aitken Cup in 2024, Jeppe High School for Boys. Photo: Jeppe High School for Boys on Facebook<\/strong><\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Aitken Cup<\/strong>, which brings together Johannesburg’s leading hockey-playing schools,\u00a0takes to the turf from Thursday and runs through until Sunday.<\/p>\n

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

The four-day event will incorporate four venues: The University of Johannesburg<\/strong>, Wits University<\/strong>, St John’s College<\/strong>, and King Edward VII School<\/strong>, while the format includes 16 schools split across four pools.<\/p>\n

Pool A promises to be exciting with the defending champion, Jeppe High School for Boys,<\/strong> headlining the group as they go on a quest for back-to-back titles.<\/p>\n

They’ll be up against Trinityhouse Randpark Ridge<\/strong>, HeronBridge College, <\/strong>and St Stithians<\/strong>, who, arguably, pose the greatest challenge to Jeppe’s title aspirations.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the 2024 runner-up, Parktown Boys’ High Schoo<\/strong>l, is in Pool B, where they will face St Benedict\u2019s College, <\/strong>Ho\u00ebrskool Monument <\/strong>and Beaulieu College, <\/strong>who are dark horses.<\/p>\n

Parktown’s new coach, David Grace,<\/strong> said he is ecstatic about his responsibility of guiding his team in the prestigious tournament.<\/p>\n

“I am extremely excited to be going to Aitken and will be looking to live up to last year’s success and, hopefully, better it. I feel we are well prepared, and the boys are peaking at the right time in the season,” he told SuperSport School Plus<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The experienced mentor said his side is “process driven, and we look at incremental improvements every day.”<\/p>\n

Focusing on the Aitken Cup, he said: “In tournament hockey, every opponent is tough. Anything can happen, so you have to perform every game.”<\/p>\n

Parktown has made some tactical adjustments and has also brought up some players into the 1st team for the tournament, Grace said.<\/p>\n

“Our preparation has been extensive, and any success must be attributed to our coaching staff. We have the best people involved with the team to make sure the boys are well prepared. Credit must go to my assistant coach, Mr. Bailey<\/strong>, team psychologist, Mr. Hull<\/strong>, 1st team manager Mrs Grace,<\/strong> and Mr Furlonger<\/strong>, our MIC, for their tireless work behind the scenes.”<\/p>\n

St John’s College<\/strong> looks like the team to beat in Pool C. They’re up against Helpmekaar Kollege<\/strong>, Ho\u00ebrskool <\/strong>Noordheuwel<\/strong>, and Northcliff High<\/strong>. While the Blues <\/em><\/strong>might be the favourites, it’s a group that could spring a surprise or two.<\/p>\n

Pool D features one of the traditional powers, KES, who will be challenged by St David\u2019s Marist Inanda<\/strong>,\u00a0Fourways High School<\/strong>, and Rand Park High<\/strong> School<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The action begins on Thursday at Wits, with St Stithians meeting HeronBridge. They’ll be followed by\u00a0the defending champion, Jeppe, taking on Trinityhouse Randpark Ridge.<\/p>\n

Jeppe heads into the tournament in a rich vein of form.\u00a0Siya Sityana<\/strong>‘s charges have faced KZN opposition in their last two matches, scoring a hard-fought 2-1 win over Northwood School<\/strong> and a 5-2 win against Westville Boys’ High<\/strong>.\u00a0Before that Jeppe won all five of their games at the KES Easter Festival<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

St John’s College will make the short trip to their neighbours, KES, where they will kickstart their Aitken Cup campaign against Helpmekaar Kollege<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

POOLS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pool A: <\/strong>A1 Jeppe, A2 Trinity RP, A3 St Stithians, A4 Heronbridge
\nPool B: <\/strong>B1 Parktown, B2 St Benedict’s, B3 Monument, B4 Beaulieu
\nPool C: <\/strong>C1 St John’s, C2 Helpmekaar, C3 Noordheuwel, C4 Northcliff
\nPool D: <\/strong>D1 KES, D2 St David’s, D3 Fourways, D4 Rand Park High<\/p>\n

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

Thursday, 15 May<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wits
\n<\/strong>15:00 – A3 St Stithians vs A4 Heronbridge
\n17:00 – A1 Jeppe vs A2 Trinity RP<\/p>\n

King Edward VII School
\n<\/strong>17:00 – C1 St John’s vs C2 Helpmekaar
\n18:30 – C3 Noordheuwel vs C4 Northcliff<\/p>\n

UJ
\n<\/strong>17:00 – B1 Parktown vs B2 St Benedicts
\n18:30 – B3 Monument vs B4 Beaulieu<\/p>\n

St John’s College
\n<\/strong>|17:00 – D1 KES vs D2 St David’s
\n18:30 – D3 Fourways vs D4 Randpark<\/p>\n

Friday, 16 May<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wits
\n<\/strong>7:30 – A1 Jeppe vs A3 St Stithians
\n9:00 – A2 Trinity RP vs A4 Heronbridge
\n10:30 – C1 St John’s vs C3 Noordheuwel
\n12:00 – C2 Helpmekaar vs C4 Northcliff
\n13:30 – A1 Jeppe vs A4 Heronbridge
\n15:00 – A2 Trinity RP vs A3 St Stithians
\n16:30 – C1 St John’s vs C4 Northcliff
\n18:00 – C2 Helpmekaar vs C3 Noordheuwel<\/p>\n

UJ
\n<\/strong>7:30 – B1 Parktown vs B3 Monument
\n9:00 – B2 St Benedict’s vs B4 Beaulieu
\n10:30 – D1 KES vs D3 Fourways
\n12:00 – D2 St David’s vs D4 Randpark
\n13:30 – B1 Parktown vs B4 Beaulieu
\n15:00 – B2 St Benedict’s vs B3 Monument
\n16:30 – D1 KES vs D4 Randpark
\n18:00 – D2 St David’s vs D3 Fourways<\/p>\n

Saturday, 17 May<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wits
\n<\/strong>7:30 – QF 1 \u2013 Winner Pool A vs 2nd Pool C
\n9:00 – QF 2 \u2013 Winner Pool D vs 2nd Pool B
\n10:30 – QF 3 \u2013 Winner Pool B vs 2nd Pool D
\n12:00 – QF 4 \u2013 Winner Pool C vs 2nd Pool A
\n13:30 – 5\u20138 Place 1 \u2013 Loser QF 1 vs Loser QF 2
\n15:00 – SF 1 \u2013 Winner QF 1 vs Winner QF 2
\n16:30 – 5\u20138 Place 2 \u2013 Loser QF 3 vs Loser QF 4
\n18:00 – SF 2 \u2013 Winner QF 3 vs Winner QF 4<\/p>\n

UJ
\n<\/strong>7:30 – 9\u201316, 3rd in Pool A vs 4th in Pool C
\n9:00 – 9\u201316, 3rd in Pool D vs 4th in Pool B
\n10:30 9\u201316, 3rd in Pool B vs 4th in Pool D
\n12:00 – 9\u201316, 3rd in Pool C vs 4th in Pool A
\n13:30 – 13\u201316, Loser Game 1 vs Loser Game 2
\n15:00 – 9\u201312, Winner Game 1 vs Winner Game 2
\n16:30 – 13\u201316, Loser Game 3 vs Loser Game 4
\n18:00 – 9\u201312, Winner Game 3 vs Winner Game 4<\/p>\n

Sunday 18 May<\/strong><\/p>\n

Parktown
\n<\/strong>7:30 – Aitken A Section \u2013 5th\/6th Place
\n9:00 – Aitken A Section \u2013 7th\/8th Place
\n10:30 – Aitken A Section \u2013 9th\/10th Place
\n12:00 – Aitken A Section \u2013 11th\/12th Place
\n13:30 – Aitken A Section \u2013 13th\/14th Place
\n15:00 – Aitken A Section \u2013 15th\/16th Place<\/p>\n

Wits
\n<\/strong>9:00 – Boden B Final
\n10:30 – Aitken C Final
\n12:00 – Aitken B Final
\n13:30 – Boden A Final
\n15:00 – Aitken A Final
\n16:30 – Medal Presentation Ceremony for all finals<\/p>\n

UJ
\n<\/strong>7:30 – Boden B Section \u2013 3rd\/4th Place
\n9:00 – Aitken C Section \u2013 3rd\/4th Place
\n10:30 – Aitken B Section \u2013 3rd\/4th Place
\n12:00 – Boden A Section \u2013 3rd\/4th Place
\n13:30 – Aitken A Section \u2013 3rd\/4th Place
\n16:30 – Medal Presentation Ceremony for all bronze medals at Wits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Aitken Cup, which brings together Johannesburg’s leading hockey-playing schools,\u00a0takes to the turf from Thursday and runs through until Sunday. Catch the action LIVE on SuperSport Schools The four-day event will incorporate four venues: The University of Johannesburg, Wits University, St John’s College, and King Edward VII School, while the format includes 16 schools split […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":72184,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72174","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\/72174","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\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=72174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/72184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=72174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=72174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=72174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}