The opening leg of the Varsity Hockey tournament this weekend will take place on Wits’ new turf which has recently been rated as the best in Africa.
The new turf was built at the end of last year, and Wits coach Mark Sanders cannot wait for action to get underway on Saturday as his side look to make a strong start on home soil.
The seasoned Sanders, who has over 20 years of coaching experience under his belt, has been at the helm at Wits for the last two years, and has overseen some pleasing progress in that time already.
“I believe that we are on the up and we are the club to be at right now. We finished sixth at USSA last year which is our highest ever position and we made it into the top four of the premier league where we used to be right at the bottom,” he told varsitysportssa.com.
The Wits coach believes that the development of a high performance gym on campus has been key to his team shedding their tag as a social side and proving that they can challenge the top teams.
“We are a very fit side, we had a very long and productive pre-season so I would say that our conditioning is better than ever,” he said.
When sizing up his team’s chances in the Varsity Hockey tournament, Sanders revealed that they have their sights set on a semifinal spot although he acknowledged that competition will be stiff.
“Tournament hockey is a different kettle of fish and we are a young side, but we have made good progress. For example we recently lost 4-3 to UJ whereas last year they beat us 8-0,” he said.
Wits have a young and fit side, so they will be looking to play a positive brand of hockey and capitalise on the fact that they start off in front of their home crowd.
“Most of the guys in our squad are between 19 and 22 and we play a high-energy game, we like to go forward and score goals so hopefully our enthusiasm will pay off.
“We start off with a huge test against Maties, but it is a big positive that it will be at home so we have to try and make the most of it,” he said.
Sanders said that a player to keep an eye out for is Matthew Povall who plays for Southern Gauteng A, whilst captain and goalkeeper Carl Zondi is also a vital cog in his team.
