The Maties women’s hockey team is raring to go and take on the Varsity Hockey competition when they play Pukke in their opening fixture in Potchefstroom on Saturday.
The side from the cape has been in preparations for a while now and feel that this might be able to give them the edge over their competition when the tournament kicks off.
Maties coach Jenny King told varsitysportssa.com: “We were not expecting the competition to start this early but we have had an extra month of preparations which means we should be ready.”
The competition has been accepted by King and her Maties players and she will be hoping that the tournament has a knock-on effect for hockey in South Africa.
“A tournament like this is the future of hockey in South Africa.
“If players gain exposure from a tournament like this it will lure the best players to go and play at university,” King added.
For Maties they have set aside three goals for the season and the Varsity Hockey competition is goal number one.
“Varisty Hockey, USSA [University Sports of South Africa] and our league are the three goals that we have set aside for ourselves this season.
“This tournament is going to be incredibly tough, with a number of sides that could win it and like USSA you can just as easily win it as finish fourth or fifth,” she explained.
King also mentioned a number of the major challengers for the title: “Free State [Kovsies], North West [Pukke] and Tuks are going to be some of the tougher opposition that we will face.”
There are three national players in the Maties side and they will be hoping that they can be the catalysts in their attempt to win the inaugural Varsity Hockey competition.
Maties begin their campaign against Pukke on Saturday at 5pm.
