A new partnership between the Eastern Province Hockey Federation (EPHF) and Emeris Nelson Mandela Bay will use hockey as a vehicle for youth development, with a schools’ indoor hockey festival as the first step towards a broader programme linking sport, education and opportunity.
The inaugural event, on Friday and Saturday, which features boys’ and girls’ teams, brings together players from different schools and backgrounds in what organisers hope will become the first of many editions.
SA Hockey Association project manager Gary Dolley said the festival was part of a wider vision to develop indoor hockey at youth level, with the school looking to establish relationships with local teams and use its facilities to create a stronger pipeline for young players.
“The partnership was also prompted by the quality of the facilities available at the Emeris campus, which the organisation sees as an opportunity to grow the sport while creating links between hockey and education,” Dolley said.
He was confident the project would extend beyond the inaugural edition, with Emeris also exploring opportunities across its campuses and through partnerships with other organisations.
“It’s that type of pipeline in terms of education and opportunity that we are hoping to build, with this venture being only the start of our journey together,” he said.
The festival’s field reflects that objective, with established hockey schools competing side by side against schools where the sport might still be in its infancy, while also placing equal emphasis on the boys’ and girls’ competitions.
Emeris Nelson Mandela Bay campus deputy head Earlene Jacobs said the response from schools had been particularly encouraging.
“The buy-in has been amazing,” Jacobs said.
“Bringing the players together is as important as the competitive element, so it’s exciting to just have all these kids together, play against each other and have fun.
“That broad participation is central to our hopes that the event can grow in future, with more schools potentially becoming involved as the event develops.”
While making the first edition a success is the immediate focus, Dolley was quick to point out that the long-term ambition was considerably broader.
Dolley said the focus after the tournament would shift towards making better use of the venue, developing indoor hockey locally and strengthening the connection between sporting and educational opportunities.
“We want to build greater participation at the local level, establish school teams and eventually create pathways towards higher-level competition, including national opportunities for talented players from the region,” he said.
EPHF vice-president Claudia Muller said the organisation saw an opportunity to bring indoor hockey back under its banner after years without a school-level programme in the province.
“We thought it would be a great opportunity to include indoor hockey in our programme because we don’t have a league in the Eastern Province, and to eventually cater for all age groups,” she said.
Muller explained that the event had been structured as a festival after some team withdrawals, but the long-term aim was to establish an annual fixture and develop a full indoor league, with Emeris providing facilities and free training slots to participating teams.
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