{"id":81603,"date":"2025-08-26T18:00:25","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T16:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=81603"},"modified":"2025-08-26T18:00:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T16:00:25","slug":"de-kock-thrilled-after-leading-stellenberg-to-back-to-back-league-titles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=81603","title":{"rendered":"De Kock thrilled after leading Stellenberg to back-to-back league titles"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Stellenberg
Stellenberg followed up their title in 2024 by again being crowned the Western Province Premier League champions. Photo: Paulene de Bruin<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stellenberg High School<\/strong> first-team hockey captain, Helen de Kock<\/strong>, declared herself proud to have captained her side to their second straight Western Province Premier League<\/strong> title over the weekend.<\/p>\n

The Bellville-based outfit drew 2-2 with St Cyprian’s School<\/strong> on Friday night on home turf, and the point they picked up from the draw was enough to seal the title.<\/p>\n

“Honestly, it feels amazing and unreal at the same time,” she told SuperSport Schools Plus<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“I’m so incredibly proud of every single girl and the amount of work they’ve put in since mid-January.<\/p>\n

“Leading this team has been very special, and being able to win the league again this year shows each girl’s determination and love for the team.”<\/p>\n

The Western Province Premier League<\/strong> is a hotly contested competition, which sees the best hockey-playing schools in the region locking horns every week, and Stellenberg went unbeaten, playing nine, winning six, and drawing three.<\/p>\n

They were followed in the standings by St Cyprian’s, Herschel Girls School<\/strong>, Fairmont High<\/strong>, Reddam House Constantia<\/strong>, Springfield Convent School<\/strong>, Ho\u00ebrskool\u00a0Durbanville<\/strong>, Rustenburg Girls’ High<\/strong>, Ho\u00ebrskool <\/strong>DF Malan<\/strong>, and Wynberg Girls’ High<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

De Kock said a second successive title was evidence of how strong the Stellies<\/strong><\/em>‘ hockey programme has become.<\/p>\n

“We know the level of competition in the Western Cape is very high, so for us to prove ourselves against all those schools and come out on top truly means a lot, both for us as a team and for Stellenberg,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Our team is a family. We love each other and always push for one another. Our coaches push us hard, but it’s because they believe in us and know we can do it.”<\/p>\n

\"Stellenberg
Stellenberg captain, Helen de Kock. Photo: Stellenberg High School on Facebook<\/a><\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

De Kock used the word “determined” to describe her teammates. They certainly reflected that in the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

“Our main goal this season was to grow together as a team and to play our hearts out for each other,” she explained.<\/p>\n

“At the start of the season, we had two [other] goals in mind: to win the league and Interschools against Durbanville. I’m happy to say we achieved both.<\/p>\n

“My highlight would definitely be the tough matches where we were tired and sore but still kept fighting for each other right until the final whistle.”<\/p>\n

Stellenberg’s final league match was also a special occasion for goalkeeper Mari Klopper<\/strong> and striker Bea van den Berg<\/strong>, who received their 100th caps for the side.<\/p>\n

Stellies’ hockey also bade farewell to skipper De Kock, who played her final game for the school, along with her fellow grade 12 learners Minke Lourens<\/strong> (vc), Stephanie Lloyd<\/strong>, Ilke van der Merwe<\/strong> and Lenae Wessels<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stellenberg High School first-team hockey captain, Helen de Kock, declared herself proud to have captained her side to their second straight Western Province Premier League title over the weekend. The Bellville-based outfit drew 2-2 with St Cyprian’s School on Friday night on home turf, and the point they picked up from the draw was enough […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":81604,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81603","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\/81603","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=81603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/81604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}