USSA A hockey champions NWU-Pukke are looking to make a convincing start to Varsity Hockey in front of their home crowd in Potchefstroom this weekend.
Pukke coach Elun Huck is keen for his side to make the most of their home-ground advantage when the action gets underway, and he is confident that Potchefstroom will kick things off in style.
He told varsitysportssa: “It is exciting for us to be playing in front of our home crowd, that will give us plenty of confidence and we want to make it a great event so that Potchefstroom is a regular venue for Varsity Hockey in the future.
Huck said that he expects the standard to be very high, considering the calibre of players involved in the tournament, and explained that it will provide ideal preparation for the USSA tournament in Cape Town in July.
“The standard will definitely be higher than in our local leagues – there will be about 15 national players taking part and I would say about 95% of the national Under-21 players will be involved as well,” he said.
The Pukke coach said that whilst his side will go into their matches this weekend with a fair amount of confidence, they will still be taking it one game at a time.
“This is just the first of three legs, and we have got 180 minutes to play this weekend which will be tough. The games are split into three 20-minute periods rather than two halves of 35 minutes so it will be important to adapt to the specific demands of the competition,” he said.
