Durban school St Mary’s DSG Kloof recently toured the Netherlands and was privileged to use the same facilities as the No. 1-ranked field hockey side in the world – an experience they hope to use for the remainder of the season.

First-team hockey captain Georgia Pollock shared how it was a privilege to meet many internationals during the tour and shared how amazing the experience was.

Georgia said: “We had the opportunity to watch a Hoofdklasse (the men’s national league) men’s match. The hockey was brilliant and the girls learnt so much from watching these players, most of them current Dutch internationals or past international players.”

Georgia shared that the side was able to utilise some of the same facilities as the Dutch national side – who are ranked number one in both the Fédération Internationale de Hockey (FIH) men’s and women’s rankings.

St Mary’s hockey coach Caryn Springate shared how fortunate they were to meet international players.

She said: “We were lucky to get a photo with the winning team Kampong. Former South African player Marsha Cox – who has over 300 international caps and has represented South Africa at three Olympic Games and two World Cups – came to visit the team.”

She also shared that they had current South African players Mustapha and Dayaan Cassiem – who are based in the Netherlands – help them with training sessions. Springate also shared that two Dutch coaches ran a session and the girls worked on some attacking play and goal-scoring.

“Our two goalkeepers, Josie Wyly and Isabella Borrajeiro had the opportunity to join a goalkeeping session that was run by the head goalkeeping coach for the Dutch national team.”

Springate added that some of the girls were fortunate enough to have a picture taken with Eva de Goede, a current Dutch hockey player who has won four Olympic medals.

“I loved having a glimpse into the top-notch facilities that each club has to offer, as there were at least four water-based astros with countless teams training or playing matches on them, as well as having the support of a large number of enthusiastic spectators. There was such a big interest and investment into the sport which you can tell really brings people together and allows the players to be challenged at every opportunity.

“It was such an honour to play on the HDM turfs after seeing countless Instagram reels of the club’s matches. It also made me aware of how spoiled we are as a school with our equipment and field. All the teams seem to be so mobile and play a fast-paced, passing game 90% of the time, avoiding unnecessary conflict.

“They are so good at winning their 50-50 battles because their basics are so polished, not to mention they just play with confidence. I really hope we as a school team can incorporate this brand of hockey into our training and matches because I think it would really help us in the upcoming season,” Springate and Georgia concluded.

Matches and results as follows:

St Mary’s vs HDM (Dutch club) drew 2-2.
St Mary’s vs Hampstead and Westminster (English Academy team) won 5-1.
St Mary’s vs Rijswijk (Dutch Club) won 3-1.
St Mary’s vs Bad Kreuznach (a club team from Germany) won 1-0.
St Mary’s vs Emmen (Dutch Club) won 6-0.

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Former South African Hockey player Marsha Cox (second from right - maroon jacket), with St Mary’s DSG Kloof.

St Mary’s DSG with current SA Hockey players Mustapha and Dayaan Cassiem.

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