Durban — Hockey player Cassandra Forbes, representing St Mary’s Diocesan School for Girls in Durban, was named player of the tournament in the under-18 Maris Stella Indoor hockey festival held recently.
The 10 participating schools were: St Mary’s DSG Kloof, Danville Park Girls High School, Curro School, Our Lady of Fatima Dominican Convent, the host Maris Stella, Durban Girls College, Ashton College, Crawford La Lucia, Durban Girls High School and Reddam House Umhlanga.
Cassandra said that she was taken aback when she received the award but could not have done it without the team.
Playing centre-half, Cassandra said that this performance gave her confidence and prepared her well for the 2023 season. She said that this season, she’s looking forward to St Mary’s Waverley’s sport festival in Johannesburg at the end of March through to the beginning of April.
Cassandra said: “I remember participating at this festival last year – and the level of competition is insane. It is a space for rivalry, while still playing a fair game and showing good sportsmanship.
“I play a more defensive role, but I am more of the type of player to assist a goal rather than scoring myself, so I hope that I can contribute to the goals in any way possible for my school,” Cassandra added.
St Mary’s DSG Kloof’s head of Hockey, Kelly Reed, said it was fantastic to have a player who was full of confidence and performing well as it had a ripple effect on the team and helped others to pick up their game.
Reed shared her expectations and was also pleased that the team could include two newbies who had no previous first team experience.
Reed said: “I was very happy with their performance. “They both fitted in easily in the team and played really well.
“We went into the tournament with the aim to try and win but at the end of the day, after a well-contested match, we went down 3-0 to eventual winners Durban Girls College,” Reed said.
Northlands Girls High School (NGHS) took part in the Hillcrest High 1st Team Indoor Hockey Festival which included hosts Hillcrest High, Curro Salt Rock, St Henrys Marist College, Kingsway High, Werda, Crawford Northcoast, Kloof High, Waterfall College and Gelofte.
This tournament was held at Hillcrest High School on Saturday.
NGHS first team hockey coach Brad Beyers said that the tournament exceeded his expectations as he was a new coach.
Beyers said: “Seeing the girls come together especially for their final two games of the tournament, showed me that these girls have great potential. The goal is to at least achieve top three in our pool and ensure that the seniors of the team enjoy their last year.”
NGHS first team hockey captain Shernaé Rajagopal, 16, was pleased with her team’s performance as they improved from their previous matches and became more unified.
Rajagopal said: “Throughout this season, we would like to develop a sisterhood among our team.”
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