Union High School, Graaff-Reinet’s 1st hockey team delivered an outstanding performance at the school’s 35th annual ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฅ๐๐ด๐ฏ๐ & ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น, contested from 21 to 24 March.
This year’s ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฅ๐๐ด๐ฏ๐ & ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น is truly unique and special as, for the first time ever, the hockey side of the festival has adopted a tournament format.
The team began their tournament by dominating their first match against ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐ฎ, securing a resounding 6-0 victory. Building on their momentum, they faced off against ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐น๐’ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น and triumphed with a commanding 5-0 win.
Undeterred by their early successes, the girls continued to excel, showcasing their skill and determination in a 9-0 victory against ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น. Their exceptional form carried them through to the next challenge, a thrilling encounter against the formidable ๐๐ถ๐บ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฐ๐ตรฉ side. Special mention must be made of Leigh-Ann Murray and Caytah-leigh Koeberg who showed their mettle in this match.
In a hard-fought battle, Union’s 1st hockey team emerged victorious with a narrow 1-0 scoreline, securing their place in the finals against ๐ช๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น.
The final match proved to be a momentous occasion as the Union side delivered an exceptional performance, defeating Westering with a well-deserved 1-0 win.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฉ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด’ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ด, ๐ข ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ’๐ด ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต.
The tournament saw Katelyn Trollip being hailed as the Union side’s top defender, Leigh-Ann Murray stood out as the best midfielder, captain Sadรฉ May proved to be the most outstanding forward, while vice-captain Caytah-Leigh Koeberg was recognized as Union’s MVP, demonstrating exceptional talent throughout the competition.
๐๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐๐ก๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ก๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ค๐๐๐, ๐๐ง ๐พ๐๐ก๐ซ๐๐ฃ ๐ฝ๐๐๐ – ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ง๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ข๐๐ฉ๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ช๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐จ๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ญ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐จ๐๐๐จ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐๐.
Union High School, Graaff-Reinet’s Invitation hockey side enjoyed great results at Union’s 35th annual Senior Rugby & Hockey Festival.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ธ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ป ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐. They started on a high note, defeating Dirkie Uys’ 1st team with an impressive score of 3-0. However, they faced a tough challenge in their next match against the Jim Fouchรฉ 1st team, resulting in a 0-4 loss. Undeterred by their setback, the team fought valiantly against Nico Malan’s 1st team, but unfortunately fell short with a score of 1-3.
๐ข๐ป ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐-๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ. The match ended in a thrilling 1-1 draw, leading to an intense 8-second rule shoot-out. The shoot-out ended in a 2-2 tie, but Union emerged victorious in the sudden death round. Goalkeeper Zanana Speelman demonstrated exceptional skills during this nail-biting phase. Leshay Fourie, Farronique Booysen and Xarah Hoffman were the heroes of the shoot-out, executing their skills flawlessly in the 8-second time limit.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ญ๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ญ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต ๐๐๐ 2๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ. Displaying their determination and teamwork, Union emerged triumphant with a score of 2-1. This victory secured them the 9th position overall out of the 17 participating teams.
๐ผ ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐๐ง๐ก๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ค๐๐๐, ๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐จ๐๐ง. Their hard work, dedication and outstanding performance in the festival have made us immensely proud. Congratulations on a job well done!