143 HOCKEY U 16A After our month long pre-season phase, the two opening fixtures against Nor thwood andWestville where never going to be easy fixtures so it was good to have a tour early that allowed for team selection and structures to be finalised.The boys had a challenging set of fixtures at Rondebosch and they must be commended on excellent results. Upon return, the rest of the season was spent building on the successes of the tour. Over the course of a season, it’s only natural for a team to slip up. For us, this was the Clifton fixture.The following week saw us travel to Maritzburg College for an even tougher fixture. But the positive attitude of the team did not allow for another slip up and the 2 – 2 draw reveals the teams’ competitive nature. We ended the season on a strong run of wins. We had a fairly even split between our grade 10s and 9s it was a huge positive that the boys gelled from the beginning to form a happy and successful team. A big plus is the depth of the age group and we didn’t carry any passengers in the A team. The grade 10s must be commended on their leadership of the team, both on and off the field – especially the captain, Cameron Rencken. With specialists who understood their roles, the results read well: 61 goals scored; 12 conceded. My thanks are extended toWayne Marsden for working closely with me this year and for his suppor t and guidance. Sihle Ntuli Played: 17 Won: 12 Lost: 2 Drew 3 U 16B It has been proven on many an occasion that talent is not everything, attitude and motivation is, in my opinion, a far greater contributor to success. This is, perhaps, a lesson this team could learn.The results were erratic and unpredictable. For example we beat Hilton 8 – 0 and Clifton 6 – 1 but lost to Maritzburg 1 – 4. There were outstanding performances some players who gave of their best every time they walked onto the astro: Daniel Taylor, Graham Hudson and Christian Bamber played with pride and passion and were unfor tunate not to be awarded more A team call-ups. As a coach, I have learned from this experience and will be able to implement measures to ensure a more consistent overall performance next year. Graham Hudson was the top goal scorer with 18 goals. Manzini Zungu Played: 10 Won: 5 Lost: 3 Drew: 2 HOCKEY U16A Back row: K Naidoo, G Oliver, G Hudson, B Tyack, K Koenig 2nd row: N de Beer, L de Vlieg, B Wood, J Foord, G Phillips, B Porteous Front row: M Lees, Mr W Marsden (Manager), C Rencken, (captain), Mr S Ntuli (coach), J Stamatis With grateful thanks to the Hagemann Family – Basil, Kim, Joshua, Luke, Glen & Kyle
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