Eden hockey emerges top once more

HOCKEY NEWS - The Eden Hockey men's and women's teams truly excelled at the recent South African Country Districts (SACD) tournaments, where they were the overall victors in their respective tournaments.

SACD is an annual tournament where teams from regions all over the country compete, and the term "Country Districts" refers to the regions that fall outside of the major metropolitan areas.

This includes the Southern Cape, where the union is known as Eden Hockey.

Over the years the men's Eden team has proved to be one of the most successful in SACD history, winning 12 titles prior to this year with the most recent in 2016. The women's Eden team on the other hand has recently experienced great growth and in 2019 won its first SACD title. One of the biggest aspects of the SACD tournaments is the selection of a representative SACD side made up of the best players from the tournament, that will take part in the senior men's and women's Inter-Provincial Tournaments later this year.

SACD Women

Up first was the SACD Women's tournament at Kearsney College in Durban from 3 to 9 July, where the 15 Eden women were chomping at the bit to defend their maiden title from 2019. Their tournament got off to the ideal start with a 4-3 win against their eventual opponents in the final, Limpopo.

Things only got better from there as they thrashed KZN Mynahs 14-0, followed by a 2-1 win against KZN Coastal, a 5-0 win against Western Province, and finally a 6-0 win against KZN Northern Natal to end the pool stages.

A 2-1 triumph over KZN Inland in the semi-final ensured progression to the final where they faced Limpopo once more. It was a tough final and a Limpopo goal in the last minute of the game meant the title would be decided in a shootout. Eden held their nerve to win the shootout 2-1, successfully defending the title.

A healthy portion of Eden ladies were selected for the SACD side this year - Old Oaks Knysna Hockey Club players Charné and Donné de Wet were chosen while fellow Old Oak and sister Carla de Wet was chosen as a non-travelling reserve. Donné is also the vice-captain of the SACD team.

Further René Pitt, Mari-Louise Nel, and Erin Shillaw were chosen for the side and Aimee Cronjé was chosen as a non-travelling reserve. All four play for Crusaders Hockey Club.

SACD Men

A week later the men took to the turf at York High School in George from 10 to 16 July. At this tournament Eden was represented by both an A and a B team.

In Pool A, Eden B started their week with a tough 5-1 loss against Northern Gauteng. They bounced back with a 3-3 draw against Western Province and a 2-1 victory over Eastern Province, but lost 2-1 against Eastern Gauteng, finishing fourth in their pool.

In the 5th-to-8th place play-off their game against Mpumalanga ended at 2-2 in regulation time, with Mpumalanga winning the shootout 3-0. This meant Eden B played against Limpopo in the 7th/8th place play-off, winning 2-0 to finish the tournament in seventh place.

The A-team played in Pool B, beating KZN Inland B 9-0 in the opening game of the tournament. This was followed by wins against Limpopo (7-1), KZN Inland A (2-1), and Mpumalanga (3-1) to finish top of Pool B, securing a spot in the semi-finals. There they faced Western Province, with regulation time ending at 2-2. Eden A won the subsequent shootout 4-2 to set up a final showdown with KZN Inland.

It was a tough game all round, but Eden A held their nerve on home turf at York and won 1-0 to secure their 13th SACD title and first in six years. The Eden men also had healthy representation in the SACD side - Darren Kamfer (Old Oaks), Scott Mosterd (NMU George), Byron Shrosbree (Plett Hockey Club) and John Spilhaus (NMU George) were all chosen. Wanda Mtshilibe (Old Oaks), Cameron de Oliviera (NMU George) and Gert van der Linde (Crusaders) were selected as non-travelling reserves.

The Eden A Men's team won the title for the first time in six years.