{"id":91724,"date":"2026-03-05T09:33:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T07:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=91724"},"modified":"2026-03-05T09:33:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T07:33:07","slug":"all-set-for-the-our-lady-of-fatima-coastal-hockey-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=91724","title":{"rendered":"All set for the Our Lady of Fatima Coastal Hockey Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The inaugural Our Lady of Fatima Coastal Hockey Festival starts bright and early on Friday, 6 March, in Durban.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All roads lead to Our Lady of Fatima<\/strong>, where 11 of the country’s top hockey-playing girls’ schools will converge for the first edition of the Coastal Hockey Festival<\/strong>, from 6 to 8 March.<\/p>\n

“The inspiration behind this hockey festival came from a desire to create an opportunity that truly adds value to schoolgirl hockey, beyond just match results,”\u00a0Matthew Smith<\/strong>, Our Lady of Fatima\u2019s Director of Hockey, told SuperSport Schools Plus<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

“We wanted to bring together strong hockey schools from around the country in an environment that promotes high-quality competition and, most importantly, learning.”<\/p>\n

The institution has nailed the brief by assembling an impressive line-up that features many established powerhouses of the girls’ game.<\/p>\n

Our Lady of Fatima will be joined by four other KwaZulu-Natal teams: St John’s DSG<\/strong>, Durban Girls’ College (DGC)<\/strong>, St Mary’s DSG Kloof<\/strong>, and St Anne’s.<\/strong> They’ll face competition from Eunice High,<\/strong> Ho\u00ebrskool Waterkloof<\/strong>, Ho\u00ebrskool<\/strong> Menlopark<\/strong>, Helpmekaar Kollege,<\/strong> Oranje Meisieskool<\/strong>, and St Stithians College.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Smith explained that the festival was designed to expose players to different playing styles and competitive standards.<\/p>\n

“Players will gain valuable game time against top opposition, which is crucial for development, and will develop confidence and decision-making under pressure,” Smith said.<\/p>\n

The festival also sets the 2026 hockey season in motion with the first competitive outings for the participating teams.<\/p>\n

It will, furthermore, provide coaches with a proper platform to test combinations, assess players in demanding match conditions, and present them with lessons to take back to their own programmes. It will offer the participating schools a welcome opportunity to get themselves on the front foot heading into the new season.<\/p>\n

“We want teams to leave not only having competed at a high level but feeling challenged and better prepared for their seasons,” Smith explained.<\/p>\n

He added, though, that he would like to see the visiting sides not focusing solely on on-field activities at the expense of the other benefits of the festival.<\/p>\n

“We want to prioritise sportsmanship, camaraderie, and shared experiences between schools, which is something we believe is vital in school sport,” he said.<\/p>\n

Smith and the organising committee have long-term plans for the festival. They hope the 2026 festival will be the first edition of an event that will become a permanent fixture on the hockey calendar.<\/p>\n

“As organisers, our goal is to create a professionally run, well-structured event that players and coaches look forward to attending each year,” he concluded.<\/p>\n

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

Friday, 6 March<\/strong><\/p>\n

07:30 – 08:45<\/strong>: St John’s vs Eunice; 08:55 – 10:10<\/strong>: Our Lady of Fatima vs Waterkloof; 10:20 – 11:35<\/strong>: DGC vs Menlopark; 11:45 – 13:00:<\/strong> St Stithians vs St Anne’s; 13:10 – 14:25:<\/strong> St Mary’s vs Helpmekaar; 14:35 – 15:50:<\/strong> St John’s vs Oranje; 16:00 – 17:15:<\/strong> DGC vs Eunice; 17:25 – 18:40:<\/strong> Our of Fatima vs Helpmekaar; 18:50 – 20:05:<\/strong> St Stithians vs Oranje; 18:20 – 19:35:<\/strong> St Anne’s vs Waterkloof.<\/p>\n

Saturday, 7 March<\/strong><\/p>\n

07:30 – 08:45:<\/strong> St Mary’s vs Menlopark; 08:55 – 10:10:<\/strong> DGC vs Waterkloof; 10:20 – 11:35:<\/strong> Our Lady of Fatima vs Oranje; 11:45 – 13:00:<\/strong> St John’s vs Helpmekaar; 13:10 – 14:25:<\/strong> Menlopark vs Eunice; 14:35 – 15:50:<\/strong> St Stithians vs St John’s; 16:00 – 17:15<\/strong>: St Mary’s vs Oranje; 17:25 – 18:40:<\/strong> DGC vs Helpmekaar; 18:50 – 20:05:<\/strong> Our Lady of Fatima vs Menlopark; 18:20 – 19:35:<\/strong> St Stithians vs Waterkloof; 19:45 – 21:00:<\/strong> St Mary’s vs Eunice.<\/p>\n

Sunday, 8 March<\/strong><\/p>\n

07:30 – 08:25<\/strong>: Helpmekaar vs Oranje; 08:35 – 09:30:<\/strong> Our Lady of Fatima vs Eunice; 09:40 – 10:35:<\/strong> St Mary’s vs Waterkloof; 10:45 – 11:40:<\/strong> St Stithians vs DGC; 11:50 – 12:45:<\/strong> St John’s vs Menlopark.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All roads lead to Our Lady of Fatima, where 11 of the country’s top hockey-playing girls’ schools will converge for the first edition of the Coastal Hockey Festival, from 6 to 8 March. “The inspiration behind this hockey festival came from a desire to create an opportunity that truly adds value to schoolgirl hockey, beyond […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":91733,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91724","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\/91724","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=91724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/91733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}