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The country’s top young hockey stars will be on display when they compete in the upcoming SA U21 Interprovincial tournament in Gqeberha.
Players will battle for national bragging rights across the men’s and women’s divisions in the competition, which runs from August 10 to 14.
EP Hockey Federation president Clive Kimfley welcomed the return of the age-group tournament to the city, which last hosted the event in 2022.
The competition will feature 18 provincial teams, with matches alternating between the KC March Astro Turf at the Gelvan Grounds and a second venue awaiting final confirmation.
Kimfley said prospective Eastern Province players had been hard at work over the past two months attending high-performance sessions in a bid to earn selection.
As part of the high-performance programme, players would take part in a series of trial matches from which the final squads would be chosen.
“Our HP sessions started about two months ago.
“From there, the players will be exposed to two or three trials attended by selectors, who will look at the various potential combinations they could utilise before the squads are selected.
“From our HP sessions, we will reduce the numbers to squads of about 30 members before the final trial period sees the numbers reduced further until we have our 18 members who will make the final squads.”
He said players who had not attended the high-performance sessions could still come into contention for selection.
EP would aim to challenge for top honours on home soil, though Kimfley acknowledged the strength of several rival provinces.
“A good tournament for us would obviously be to win the gold medal.
“However, we cannot disregard the strength that the sides from Western Province, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal will have,” he said.
“For us, the first objective would be to qualify for the semifinals and possibly the final.
“From there, I think it will come down to who shows up on the day and earns the biggest prizes.”
The tournament is expected to showcase many of SA’s leading U21 players and provide a glimpse of the next generation of national talent.
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The Herald