ATLASVILLE, SOUTH AFRICA – The team has been training a lot more then in previous years, on the weekend of the 18th, 19th, 20th January 2010 a training camp was help in Cape Town. The training was a huge success as when the SA team played an All start team which was made up of other players in Western Province and their Imports, the SA team triumphed with a score of 10-0. SA Senior Team Announced:
The South African Ice Hockey Mens National Team has been announced.
The team is as follows:
Goal Keepers:
Gary Bock (Wildcats, Johannesburg)
David Berger (Scorpions, Johannesburg)
Defence:
David Watson (Scorpions, Johannesburg)
Ryan Marsh (Wildcats, Johannesburg)
Andre Marais (Warriors, Pretoria)
Dean Magmoed (Western Province)
Bernie Gouws (Western Province)
Brendan Stevens (Western Province)
Klyde Stevens (Western Province)
Forwards:
George Lyon (Wildcats, Johannesburg)
Chris Engelbrecht (Wildcats, Johannesburg)
Jack Valadas (Wildcats, Johannesburg)
Damian Cardoso (Scorpions, Johannesburg)
Marc Giot (Western Province)
Michael Fraquet (Western Province)
Mich Joubert (Western Province)
Uthman Samaai (Western Province)
Kyle Van Rooyen (Western Province)
Gareth Miller (Western Province)
Francois Esterhuizen (Kwazulu Natal)
The next training camp was held up in Johannesburg and was for the players based up there. This was held over the weekend of 13 and 14 February 2010. With 3 practice sessions, the players all skated really hard and by the end of the weekend a lot was achieved and the guys are feeling good about the rest of the preparations. There are 2 more training camps scheduled for 28, 29 and 30th February 2010 and 30th – 31st of March and 1st April 2010 in Cape Town. Before the team departs they will all come together in Johannesburg for a final training session and last preparation game before departing for Division III World Championships Group B in Yerevan, Armenia. The team departs on 9th April from O.R. Tambo airport and arrive in Armenia that evening. The team will have their first practice session on European ice on the 10th. The following day, the 11th of April 2010, the South African team will play a friendly international against Georgia. This is new territory for the South Africans, as Georgia is a new team on the international circuit and has never played against South Africa before. The South African team hopes to walk away with victory as to go into the World Championships campaign with as much momentum as possible. The South African team opens up their World Championships campaign with a game against the hosts, Armenia, on the 14th April at 20:00.
The goal of South African is to come home with the gold medal this time. Last time they lost out to North Korea who they will be playing on 17th April; this is the key game for RSA. At the moment everyone in the team has given their commitment to travelling to Armenia. The SA team is currently seeking sponsorship so that they can fulfil their goal of a gold medal and promotion to division II. The trip is costing each player around R9700.00 which is about $1200 per player. They are hoping that they can get the entire team as it stands over to the World Championships. We wish them well in their endeavours.
Contact: gary.bock@prohockeynews.com
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