Namibia ready for eighth international hockey festival
Chance to grow
Windhoek Gymnasium's teams are ready to participate at the Cape Town International Hockey Festival, joining teams from South Africa, the UK, the USA, and Zimbabwe.
Windhoek Gymnasium’s Eagles and Phoenix boys and girls’ first teams left on Monday to take part in the Cape Town International Hockey Festival from 18 to 23 July, in South Africa."In addition to us and the hosts, the international festival hosts teams from the United Kingdom (UK), United States (USA) and Zimbabwe. It is very competitive hockey, which allows teams to grow and become better. As we only have five to six teams participating in the first-team league in Namibia, such endeavours initiate our improvement and growth, said Bianca Rehder, the Phoenix team coach.
Tournament line-up
Namibia has been participating in the tournament since 2015 and will see 16 boys and 15 girls take part. Rehder said it comprises two sections – the Elite section and the newly introduced Evolve section. In the Elite section, both the boys' and girls’ tournaments feature four pools, each with five teams. The Evolve section will feature two pools, each consisting of six teams. The inclusion of this section brings together a total of 64 teams that will compete in a line-up of 244 matches.
Elite boys
The elite boys’ pool A includes Millfield Blue Stripe from the UK, Windhoek High School, SA’s Parel Vallei, Paarl Boys and Somerset College.
Pool B includes Merchant Taylors A from the UK, Windhoek Affies, SACS Fairmont, and the WP Invitational from South Africa.
In Pool C, the teams are St. St Georges Weybridge from the UK, Windhoek Gymnasium, South Africa's Paul Roos Gymnasium, Worcester Gymnasium and Outeniqua.
Pool D features Kingston Grammar and Guildford HC from the UK and SA’s Paarl Gymnasium, Curro Durbanville and Durbanville.
Elite girls
The elite girls’ pool A features Sedberg and Guildford from the UK and Durbanville, Somerset College, and Outeniqua from South Africa.
Pool B includes Millfield from the UK and Windhoek Gymnasium with SA’s La Rochelle, Parel Vallei and Paarl Girls.
Pool C’s teams include Kingston Grammar from the UK, Chisipite from Zimbabwe, Windhoek High School and SA’s Rustenburg and Curro Durbanville. Pool D will feature Wellington College Lions from the UK, NorCol Wolves from the USA, SA’s Springfield Girls, Paarl Gymnasium and Fairmont.