SOUTH AFRICA – The annual South African Championships or more commonly referred to as the Inter Provincials in South Africa took place over the weekend of 10, 11 and 12 October 2009 at The Ice Station, Grand West Casino, Cape Town. This year 4 teams were competing, Western Province A, Gauteng, Western Province B and the South African U18 National Squad.
Western Province A was bolstered by the many foreign players they have recruited from Switzerland, Russia and Inline players from the Namibian National Team who have converted to Ice Hockey in Cape Town. Western Province B was made up of players from Western Province and Kwazulu Natal who joined forces to make a team for the event.
The first game of the tournament saw the U18 SA squad taking on Western Province in the early hours of the morning. The U18 team, who were joined by the SA National Team Goalie Ashley Bock, played well considering most of their players are 16 and 17 playing against men in their 20’s. Unfortunately though, this time they came out second best.
The Second game of the tournament the following morning saw Gauteng taking on the U18 squad. The Gauteng team took a while to get going but once they did they looked very good. The first line, centred by Chris Engelbrecht showed the goal-scoring prowess that has seen all three forwards representing their country on numerous occasions. The second line bolstered by the Captain, Andre Marais came out of the game with the most points. The final score was 14-2 to Gauteng.
The third game saw Western Province A, Coached by the SA senior National Coach, Ronnie Woods, taking on the Western Province B. The European influence in the A team was evident as passes were crisper, shots were more accurate and movement off the puck was more evident. The B team, using 2 16-year-old goaltenders, fared well in the first and last period but lost it in the second period and allowed 7 goals. The Western Province A teams first line Centred by Namibian Quintin Kotze, and the 2 south Africans on the wings, Marc Giot and Michael Friquet with their Swiss and Namibian Defender were far too strong for the B Team. The A Team eventually rolled out 11-1 winners.
The main game of the tournament saw Western Province A going up against archrivals Gauteng. You could feel the excitement in the crowd as the supporters gathered, the Gauteng and Western Province fans were out in full force for this one. In goal for Gauteng was Gary Bock, and for Western Province, Namibian, Eric Rodenwoldt. From the first drop of the puck it was an intense, high speed, end-to-end game with Gauteng been Superior in possession but unlucky hitting posts and missing open nets.
Within the first 15 minutes 4 players had been sent to the showers for fighting. This changed the momentum of the game as Gauteng lost their one power forward Damian Cardoso. To add insult to Injury the bench coach for Gauteng for this game was kicked off the bench, as his name did not appear on the game sheet. This further swung the momentum in favour of Western Province. At the end of the first Period Western Province lead 3-1.
Within the first 5 minutes of the second Period Gauteng clawed back to within one making the Score 3-2. Gary Bock then changed half way with David Berger who came in and held his own. Unfortunately a few mistakes led to Western Province drawing away again and at the end of 2 the score was 5-3. Superior fitness on ice showed in the end as Western Province fought their way to a 7-3 victory over Gauteng to send their fans home happy.
The last 2 games saw Western Province A playing the U18 Squad, the U18 squad ended the tournament on a very respectable note only losing 8-2 to a much more experienced senior team. The last game saw Gauteng taking on Western Province B. The final Score was 13-1.
After a fantastic few days of hockey the final standings were as follows:
1: Western Province A
2: Gauteng
3: Western Province B
4: U18 Squad.
Individual awards for the tournament were:
Best Goalkeeper: Eric Rodenwoltd – Western Province A
Best Defender: David Watson – Gauteng
Best Forward: Gareth Miller – Western Province A
Top Points Scorer: Jack Valadas – Gauteng
MVP: Marc Giot – Western Province A
Congrats to all the teams who played.
Contact: gary.bock@prohockeynews.com
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