The 1^st Team Woodridge boys and girls were amongst the 64 teams participating in the Fairmont Hockey Tournament over Easter.
The boys won their first 3 pool games against St Dominics College, Hugenote, and DF Malan, and both Ben Peens and Benjamin Tyrrell had been named player of the match. Woodridge was now top of their pool which meant they would play the second team in pool F, against Outeniqua. This match would determine if we would play for the positions 1-8 or 9-18. With a lot on the line, this promised to be a good game. There were no goals in the first and majority of the second quarter, however, we managed to secure a short corner in the last minute of the second quarter and Joshua Botha scored a drag flick to make the score 1-0 at half time. The third quarter saw a great deflection goal from Finn Kirsten and Connor O’Carrol. Woodridge won the game convincingly with three goals and conceding none. Tristan Torrance was awarded player of the match.  The boys were now fighting for the cup in the top 8 out of 32 other schools. We came up against a strong Somerset College in the quarter-finals and the game was intense, with both teams having multiple opportunities. Mick Kirsten, the Woodridge goalkeeper, made some incredible saves to keep the game goalless and take it into shootouts. Ethan Moothoo, Benjamin Tyrrell and Tristan Torrance each scored their goals. A great performance from the Woodridge goalkeeper saw Woodridge win the shoot out by one goal. Benjamin Tyrrell won player of the match and Woodridge went on to the semi-finals.

Woodridge started the semi-final with a roaring start against Paarl Gimnasium. Kyle Lottering scored in the first minute. At the start of the second half, we had a two-goal lead, which lead to a four-goal lead by the last quarter. Fresh legs on the Paarl side kicked in and fatigue from our game earlier that day set in and we conceded 4 goals, of which 3 were scored by Carlon Mentor. Unfortunately, Woodridge lost in the shootouts and therefore would go through to play Jim Fouche for bronze. In the last minute of the first quarter against Jim Fouche, Finn Kirsten scored a goal for Woodridge. The frustration was evident for our side as they were in control, but the score was not reflecting that. Joshua Botha scored a goal in the last minute of the second quarter, and it appeared as though our boys were finding their rhythm. They went on to score 2 more goals, one by Benjamin Tyrrell and one by Finn Kirsten.  After a dominating performance, the boys won Bronze.

The 1st team girls’ hockey team continued in their positive form, playing their usual attacking style, which proved to be their winning formula throughout the tournament, especially as they faced teams they normally would not. Their performance was nothing less than exceptional, beating Stellenburg (4-2), High School Rustenberg (6-0) & La Rochelle (9-0) in the pool stages. Progressing to the top 16 out of 32 teams, we faced a tough quarter final against the reigning champions, St Cyprians. In a game that went to the wire, the teams were equal at the end of the game, which took them to 8 second shoot outs. The slick skills of the “Woodridge 3” took the team to lead the shoot outs throughout, however, it was the brilliance of Alison Kroon, the goalkeeper, who kept the opposition at bay. The team faced shoot outs all the way through to the final, making sure every game was nail-biting.

This was the first time that a Fairmont tournament attendee made it all the way through to the finals. We dominated the final game against Monument High School, with 7 short corners in the first chukka, this showed that the attack was consistent throughout the game. Unfortunately, we only converted 1 of the 7 short corners, with the final being another sudden death shoot out. Monument High School won the shootout 6-7.  The girls did an exceptional job at this tournament. Jemma Maartens shared top goal scorer of the tournament, Iman Bonnasse shared player of the tournament and Alison Kroon won goalkeeper of the tournament. The team received various player of the match awards following every game. Andrea Collins won this award 3 times, Jordan Adams won it once and Iman Bonnasse won it twice.

Both teams flew the flag high by winning the Co-Ed team of the tournament. This was an amazing award as both teams ended in the top 4 out of 64 teams. The girls finished in 2nd place and the boys finished in 3rd place. Six girls and thirteen boys were selected into the tournament team to tour the Netherlands in October. These girls and boys left their mark by playing an exciting brand of hockey that will be seen throughout the remainder of the season to come.