NMMU-Madibaz may have finished in a surprise seventh place in the Varsity Hockey tournament but the University is on the right track in their rebuilding phase.
It was always going to be a tough task for the young, inexperienced team – made up of 11 first year students – and coach, National Men’s striker Dalan Phillips believes things could have turned out better were it is not for two results going against them.
“Looking back, I think if we had beaten Wits – instead of picking up a draw – and taken points from the match against NWU-Pukke, we could have definitely played for at least fifth place.
“Unfortunately, our finishing ability let us down in those matches but we walk away with our heads held high as we gained a lot of experience from the event. We went into the tournament with 11 first year students who have never played at this level before and have never played against Springbok players before, some our girls went up to the National players they played against and asked for autographs.
“So it was a new experience for them and they learned plenty of lessons which bodes well for the future of the University,” he told varsitysportssa.com.
The one aspect of the game that Phillips feels needs some polishing is their ability to make the most of the scoring opportunities they created and will head back to the drawing board as the team prepares for league matches as well as the USSA tournament.
“We created numerous opportunities in all the matches but were just unable to apply the finishing touches but that is something we can work on at training. We have set the foundation on which we can build and we know we have our league campaign to solidify everything before the USSA tournament,” he added.
Phillips, who played in the 2014 Varsity Hockey event for the Madibaz, stated that the Varsity Hockey event was by far the biggest tournament his players have played in and “is a fantastic event for the girls to showcase their talent and for hockey to gain more exposure – thanks to the TV coverage.”
