Schools from the northern suburbs of Durban have their moment to shine in the Durban North Regional of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge hosted by Ashton International College on Sunday 13 April.  Eight teams will take to the turf in the hopes of being crowned regional champions. They will be split into two pools with host school, Ashton heading up Pool A where they will meet Crawford La Lucia, Danville Park Girls’ High School and Northlands Girls’ High School. Four teams feature in Pool B with defending champions, Our Lady of Fatima taking on Crawford North Coast, Curro Salt Rock and Reddam House uMhlanga.

Three of the former winners have been slotted into Pool A, that being Danville, Ashton and Crawford La Lucia while Fatima is the only previous victrix in Pool B. The path to regional victory requires points, and teams will be hard at work securing them for their log. A win records 4 points, a draw with goals earns 2 points, while a goalless draw moves their total up by a single point and a loss, sadly earning nothing. Teams will have 25 minutes per game, with Ashton getting the fixtures underway meeting Crawford La Lucia in the early fixture tipping off at 7.30am. The top two teams from each pool will face each other in a cross-pool playoff, with the winners of both of the games proceeding to the concluding game of the tournament at 2.35pm.

Ready to defend their title. Vice-Captain, Georgia Brown and Captain for Our Lady of Fatima, Jenna Shaw will be charging out at the Durban North Regional of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge that takes place at Ashton International College on Sunday 13 April
Pic by Val Adamson

The winning team from this regional will head to the Grand Finals taking place later this year at St Mary’s D.S.G., where they will meet nine other teams representing the various KZN regions. Currently, Maris Stella (DBN Central Regional); St Mary’s D.S.G. (Highway Regional); Epworth School (PMB Central Regional) and St Anne’s School (PMB North Regional) have all claimed their spot at the Grand Finals. Freshly booked, the fifth team will have punched their ticket the previous day in the Durban South Regional hosted by Werda Skool. If you are unable to get to the grounds to support, you can catch all the action on the SuperSport Schools app. For more info like or follow the tournament on social media.