SA LADIES IN GOLD MEDAL TEAM AT CARDUMEN AGUAMALA 3X3 UNDERWATER HOCKEY WORLD CUP

A jubilant team.

Two members of the SA Elite Underwater Hockey Ladies Team were part of the "6 Beats, 1 Heart"  international team that won the ladies division at the 3X3 Underwater Hockey World Cup in Medellin, Colombia last week (10 to 16 December 2018)

They beat a team of 6 Colombian Elite National players in a hard fought match that ended in a draw and was decided by a golden goal

 

(Previous press releases regarding the 2018 Underwater Hockey World Championships at https://www.linkedin.com/in/zandrewitblitz/detail/recent-activity/posts/ )

In Underwater Hockey, the 3x3 format is like 7's rugby. The traditional format is 6 players on each side with the faster format sporting only 3 players on each side on a smaller court. This means that each team has 6 players with any 3 in the game at any time and effective constant substituting is part of a winning strategy.

The annual Cardumen Aguamala 3X3 Underwater Hockey tournament in Columbia is a highlight on the 3X3 underwater hockey calendar and the challenge is to put together a competitive team from the best players in the world and region.

The winning ladies team consisted of 2 SA Elite ladies players - Madeleine Rive (based in the USA) and Zandre Coetzee (from Pretoria (TUKS)) as well as Tyera Eulberg (USA, Worlds Captain), Maud Ginsbourger (France, Worlds Vice Captain), Tricia Simon (USA, Worlds player) and Elsa Debrunner (USA Worlds Player (and youngest in the team at 16)

Both Maddie and Zandre where members of the SA Elite Ladies Team that won the World Championship Gold in Stellenbosch in 2016 (in 2018 in Canada, they came 4th). Zandre is the youngest member of the SA Elite Ladies team and was also an U/19 World Champion in 2015 in Spain when SA beat New Zealand.

The ladies played a strong 3X3 tournament and won all their round robin matches. In the semi finals they won against a mixed Colombian side. In the finals against a team of the 6 best Colombian elite ladies it took a huge effort in the last 3 minutes of the game to come back from 3-1 at one stage and 4-2 down at halftime. The ladies scored a match tying goal in the final 30 seconds and then a sudden death goal by Zandre to win the Championships. The "6 Beats, 1 Heart" team even spent 1 minute with only 2 players when 1 was sent to the sinbin during the match.

It was a sweet victory for especially Madeleine and Zandre who lost the bronze medal against Colombia at the World Championships in July this year.

More on the 3x3 Tournament in Columbia at https://www.facebook.com/events/21 93102494291719/andhttps://www.face book.com/aguamalauwsports/ 

On the attached pictures is the "6 Beats, 1 Heart" international ladies team  and then Zandre with her gold medal and the team trophy. Also 1 of Zandre at the press conference held in Colombia.  I also include 2 pictures of the SA Elite Ladies team from Canada and an action shot of Zandre from Canada

In South Africa, the underwater hockey teams are currently preparing for the the SA Junior Championships in February and the SA Senior Championships in March. The U/19 and U/23 teams then prepare for the Junior World Championships in Sheffield in July 2019. Zandre is a member of the U/23 ladies team who are working hard to go and improve on their 2017 bronze. The U/19 Ladies also won bronze in 2017 (after gold in 2015) and both junior men's teams are hungry for a podium place in Sheffield after a few dry world championships.

The SA Elite and Masters Teams are preparing for the next senior world championships in Australia in July 2020. 

Because underwater hockey is a small "Cinderella sport", players have to fund their preparation for and trips to all tournaments themselves. As such they rely on donations, fundraising and sponsors.

To go to Columbia, Zandre was generously helped by a team mate as well as a fundraising effort by the members of her local CrossFit Box in Pretoria, Willow Way CrossFit. The CrossFit family at Willow Way really pulled together to help Zandre get to Columbia.

CrossFit has become a popular "conditioning sport" for many underwater hockey players around the world. To such and extent that some of them are starting to do well in CrossFit competitions in their regions. 

For their campaign at the World Championships in Canada in July 2018, the SA Elite Ladies received generous contributions from SpiderTech Tape, Defy, Shanahan Engineering and several small businesses, family members and supporters. . 

The SA Elite Underwater Hockey Ladies Facebook page is .at www.facebook.com/saeliteuwh/ and  SA Junior Underwater Hockey Federation page is at  https://www.facebook.com/sajuwhf/ 

Past and future press releases are loaded on Zandre Coetzee's LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/in/zandrewitblitz/

The SA underwater Hockey Federation website is at www.sauwhf.co.za

(this is not an official SA Underwater Hockey press release and is done in my private capacity as a underwater hockey fan and parent)

For more information on underwater hockey, contact me at 

De Wet Coetzee

Cell 072 024 9801

E-mail koproer@gmail.com or zandrewitblitz@gmail.com

#spidertech #stickittopain #defy #underwaterhockey #uwh #cardumen3x3 #sasport #proteas #proudlysa #aguamalauwsports #southafricansports #southafrica

World Champions to defend their title in Quebec.

The South African Elite Women Underwater Hockey Team.

The South African Masters Men and Elite Women Underwater Hockey Teams arrived in Quebec this past weekend to participate in the 20th Underwater Hockey World Championships that start on the 20th and end on the 28th of July.

The SA Elite Ladies, who are sponsored by SpiderTech Tape and Defy, are the defending World Champions after winning Gold in Stellenbosch in 2016. With their coach, Roger Bester, they have worked incredibly hard over the past two years to put up a worthy fight to retain their top spot in the Underwater Hockey World.

The ladies have been using SpiderTech Tape in cases of small injuries as well as for preventing unnecessary strain and for support while training preparing for the World Championships..They will also be using SpiderTech Tape in and out of the pool in Quebec.

The team consists of 7 of the gold medal winners from 2016 and 4 new caps giving them a good blend of experience and fresh hunger. The 4 new caps have all come through the junior structures and have played for the SA U/19 and/or U/23 teams in world championships in the past. New cap Marli Pelser from Pretoria played for the SA U/19 team in 2008 when some of the younger players like Eleanor de Kock and Zandre Coetzee (both U/19 and Elite World Champions) where still playing U/12 field hockey!

The other 3 new caps Tatton Bouras, Jennifer Copinger and Fransesca Wightman where all members of the SA U/23 team that won bronze in Australia in 2017.

New captain Jeanie van der Merwe plays for KZN, but like Marli, she also started her underwater hockey career in Pretoria at Hillcrest and TUKS, introducing the sport to youngsters who are now her team mates.

This year, the majority of the team hails from KZN, with only lady each 1 from Gauteng and Western Cape and 2 from Gauteng North. This made logistics easy since the only heated 3m pool available for training is in Durban and the ladies had to train at that depth for the deep pool in Quebec.

Roxi Walmsley hails from a strong Underwater Hockey presence in SWD that dominated U/19 Ladies hockey for several years while Roxi was U/19 and her mom, Sue, was coached the young ladies.

The team also has two players based abroad - Lauren Dwyer, former KZN player is now based in the UK and Maddie Rive lives in the USA.  Vice captain Julie Borstlap was born in France, but through an underwater hockey romance made South Africa her home. She and husband, Brent (ladies assistant coach and member of the masters men team) put in a lot of work mentoring and helping younger players to grow in the sport.

The ladies kick of their World Championship campaign against host Canada on Friday 20 July at 20h00 (SA time). On Saturday they face the always strong Colombian team in a rematch of the 2016 semi final nail biter in Stellenbosch. 

For coach Roger Bester, himself a former SA elite player it will be #justanotherhockeygame as he keeps reminding the ladies, but a repeat gold medal for him will certainly be a feather in his underwater hockey cap as coach.

The games can be watched live at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSsoYFX16vdC5gJFA7qJFtw/feed  

The games schedule and results are at https://uwhscores.com/t/worlds2018/team/46

As mentioned, the SA Elite Ladies received generous contributions from SpiderTech Tape and Defy. This helped them a lot since they are all amateurs and have to raise the money to prepare for and go to the World Championships, themselves. The stress of fundraising puts a strain on the players and reduces the amount of training camps and preparation that can put in. SpiderTech Tape and Defy certainly gave the ladies a huge boost in this regard.

The Masters Men team contains many years of experience at all levels and the Ou Manne have worked hard to give themselves a good chance to bring back a medal for South Africa.

The team consists of Darren Hanner, Dave Chapman, Willem Zylstra, Dirk Tromp, Nico van der Merwe, Marius Branquinho, Leon van der Merwe, Emile Spies, Brent Borstlap and Jack van Blerk

South Africa did not send a Elite Men's and Masters Ladies team to Quebec mainly due to financial considerations. Despite a lot of interest and many world class players, there was just not enough players that could make the financial commitment to pay their own way to the world championships. The cost of preparing (training camps, etc) and going too Quebec was around R 50 000  per player. As mentioned the players get no financial contribution from the SA Underwater Hockey Federation, Olympic Committee (SASCOC) or Government. 

The SA Masters Ladies have had consistent podium finishes at World Championships and we are sure that both the Masters Ladies and Elite Men will be back in full force in 2020.

The SA Elite Underwater Hockey Ladies Facebook page is .at www.facebook.com/saeliteuwh/ and the World Championship website is at http://www.uwhworlds2018.ca/ and their Facebook pageat.www.facebook.com/uwhworlds2018/

Past and future press releases are loaded on Zandre Coetzee's LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/in/zandrewitblitz/

On the attached pictures is Zandre Coetzee (youngest) and Dave Chapman (oldest) as the SA flag bearers at the opening ceremony on Wednesday evening. The second picture is most of the SA ladies at a recent training camp in their official SA swimsuits. Contact me for high quality photographs

The SA underwater Hockey Federation website is at www.sauwhf.co.za

(this is not an official SA Underwater Hockey press release and is done in my private capacity as a underwater hockey fan and parent)

For more information on the progress at Worlds, contact me at 

De Wet Coetzee

Cell 072 024 9801

E-mail koproer@gmail.com or zandrewitblitz@gmail.com

SA LADIES ON COURSE FOR FINALS

Both the South African Underwater Hockey Ladies’ Teams have booked themselves favourable games in the playoff stages of the World Championships in Hobart Australia.  The round robin stages concluded today and both the U/19 and U/23 Ladies just lost against New Zealand an lie 2^nd in their divisions.

Online article at  https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sa-ladies-course-finals-zandre-coetzee

The U/18 and U23 Men are still with a chance, both lying 5^th, They face tough playoffs against the teams above them, but with some luck and a lot of guts they can still make it to the podium.

For the U/19 Ladies this means an automatic semi final with a rest day tomorrow as teams 3 to 7 battle it out for places in the semi finals. The U/23 Ladies play 7^th placed Argentina in the playoffs. 

They have beat Argentina comfortably and should be able to do so again to proceed to the semis against either Australia (whom they beat 3-0 today) and Columbia. Columbia’s U/23 Ladies are the current World Champions from Spain in 2015. Either team will make for a tough semi final for the SA Ladies.

Both these teams are likely to face New Zealand in their respective finals. New Zealand has a very strong schools / junior underwater league and they have been consistently strong since the inception of the junior categories at the world championships. The numbers of players involved and resources and time allocated to underwater hockey make them a powerhouse in junior underwater hockey.

The SA U/19 Ladies are the current World Champions after beating the New Zealand ladies in Spain in 2015. This was the first time the New Zealand U/19 ladies lost any game (SA beat them in the round robin and the finals). The current SA team contain 7 members of this gold medal team including Captain Calista Pake and Helen Van Rhyn both who are both at their 3^rd World Championships.

The U/23 Ladies’ team contain the remaining 5 members from the 2015 U/19 Gold Medal Team. This includes the captain Eleanor De Kock and Moya Moorcroft, both playing in their 4^th junior world championship. Eleanor and Zandrѐ Coetzee where also members of the SA Elite Ladies Team that won the senior World Championships in Stellenbosch in 2016. They have worked very hard to make it a unique triple with gold in 3 divisions.

Zandrѐ was the top goal scorer in the U/23 ladies division in all the round robin games (9 goals), but unfortunately she was passed by an New Zealand lady when New Zealand put up a 10 – 0 score against Argentina in the final round robin game, She now lies second. Her team mates Eleanor and Jordynne follow closely in 3^rd and 4^th with 7 goals each.

The SA U/23 Ladies came 5^th in 2011, last in 2013 (with only 6 players) and did not have a team in 2015, so the U/23 ladies have worked hard for at least a fist podium position for them in 2017 in Hobart.

As mentioned, the men have had a tougher competition, but they are still in high spirits and are going to give it their all to upset the very strong teams above them in the log so that they can proceed to the semi finals and even finals.

The playoffs start tomorrow (Thursday) with the semi finals on Friday and Finals on Saturday. We wish ALL our teams all the best – may your hard work pay off!

The games are live streamed at http://tinyurl.com/hobartlive (as well as available afterwards)

 Full updated results are at https://sportsdesq.sportstg.com/portal/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&OrgID=10080

  

De Wet Coetzee (Parent)

Cell 072 024 9801

E-mail zandrewitblitz@gmail.com

SA WOMEN DOING WELL AT WORLDS

U23 ladies and in the action photo is Zandrѐ (No 11) against Canada

The South African Women are doing well and are both lying 2^nd during the round robin stages at the Underwater Hockey World Championships.

Online article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sa-women-doing-well-worlds-zandre-coetzee

The tournament started on Friday, 14^th and the finals are on Saturday 22 July.  Games can be followed on http://tinyurl.com/hobartlive where they are live streamed as well as available afterwards. Full updated results are at https://sportsdesq.sportstg.com/portal/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&OrgID=10080

Previous articles about the SA Team at the Underwater Hockey World Championships are at:

1. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/family-matters-sa-underwater-hockey-zandre-coetzee
2. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sa-underwater-hockey-players-going-world-hobart-zandre-coetzee
3. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sa-teams-start-6-wins-worlds-zandre-coetzee

The SA U/19 Ladies (Current World Champions from the previous championships in 2015 in Spain, are lying second behind New Zealand after round 1 of a double round robin. They lost only to New Zealand (2-1) in the first round and are well placed for a favourable opponent in the playoffs.

The U/23 ladies are also lying second after 5 of their 7 round robin games. They lost 5-2 against New Zealand but have beat Argentinia, Canada, France and 2015 World Champions Columbia. They have tough games against Great Brittain and Australia on Tuesday and Wednesday and if they retain their 2^nd position they will play off against the 7^th place for a place in the semi finals.

Zandrѐ Coetzee from the SA U/23 ladies is currently the top goal scorer in the U/23 ladies group with 9 goals in 5 matches. Behind her is a player from New Zealand with 8 and then 2 more from New Zealand and Australia with 6 goals each and then her team mate and captain Eleanor de Kock and 2 other players with 5 goals. While Zandrѐ and the team play by the motto “individuals score goals but teams win championships”, the SA squad is very proud to top this table. The table is at https://sportsdesq.sportstg.com/portal/index.cfm?fuseaction=competition&competitionID=17465&OrgID=10080&clubOrganisationId=0#statistics

The men are having a tougher time and the U/19 men are currently lying 4th with the U/23 men in 5^th place. Both still have a chance to proceed to the semi finals if they can stand their man in the tough end of the playoffs.

The finals are on Saturday 22 July

De Wet Coetzee (Parent)

Cell 072 024 9801

E-mail zandrewitblitz@gmail.com

SA TEAMS START WITH 6 WINS AT WORLDS

A hopeful SA U/23 and U/19 Underwater Hockey Team

The SA U/23 and U/19 Underwater Hockey Teams started the World Championships in Hobart, Australia with 6 wins and 1 loss on day one. The U/23 Men and Ladies each played one game and the U/19 Ladies played three games and SA was on the winning side in all of them. The U/19 Men played two matches, winning one and loosing the second.

Online article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sa-teams-start-6-wins-worlds-zandre-coetzee

The tournament started today (Friday, 14^th) and the finals are on Saturday 22 July. Games can be followed on http://tinyurl.com/hobartlive where they are live streamed as well as available afterwards. Full updated results are at https://sportsdesq.sportstg.com/portal/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&OrgID=10080

Previous articles about the SA Team at the Underwater Hockey World Championships are at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/family-matters-sa-underwater-hockey-zandre-coetzee and https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sa-underwater-hockey-players-going-world-hobart-zandre-coetzee

The SA U/19 Women who are the defending World Championships (from Spain 2015) opened the day for SA with a 5-0 win over USA. Captain Calista Pake scored 2 goals with Nicole Smit, Lise van Rhyn and Daniel Wentzel contributing the balance for SA.

The SA U/19 Men then beat Argentina 7-3 with Captain Ryan van Zyl scoring 2 goals and Austin Elferink, Joel Hanner, Simeon Jooste, Mathew Penning and Dirk van Reenen each scoring a goal.

Next up was the U/23 Ladies against Argentina. After a tough start they won 6-1. Captain Eleanor de Kock scored a goal and the team’s man of the match Zandrѐ Coetzee, scored 3 goals with Jordynne Elferink contributing the opening goal (a making it one each for the Elferink siblings) and Thea Rothman also contributing.

The U/19 Ladies then played their 2^nd match of the day against Canada, beating them 8-0. Chrizanne Smit, Helen van Rhyn and Daniel Wentzel each scored 2 goals with Nina Adams and Oliva Langston also making contributions. Helen made in the 2^nd sibling double of the day after sister Lise scored in the 1^st match.

Next on the roster for SA was the u/23 Men who won a very hard match against Argentina 3 – 1. after a very balanced battle throughout the match. Again it was the captain Elrich Engelbrecht (2011 U/19 gold medalist) scoring 2 with JP van Zyl scoring the 3^rd.

The U/19 men then played Great Britain and after conceding two early goals, they lost 3-1 with Khardan Ruocchio scoring the only goal for SA.

Last game of the day for the U/19 Women who play a double round robin and 3 games on some days was Great Britain and the ladies won 3-0, making for a hard but successful day in the pool for them. Goals where scored by Nicole Smit, Helen van Rhyn and “Spoetnik Gonsalez” Lise van Rhyn

Tomorrow the U/23 ladies are in for a very hard battle against New Zealand while the U/23 Men play Australia. The U/19 men play Great Britain and the U/19 Ladies play Columbia (who is always a force to be reckoned with) and also host Australia.

While it is only day one and the teams have a long way to go, we celebrate a successful day for South Africa on day 1 of the Underwater Hockey World Championships.

De Wet Coetzee (Parent)

Cell 072 024 9801

E-mail zandrewitblitz@gmail.com

Old Edwardian Society's 2016 Sportsman of the Year Awards

The winners.

The 2016 Sportsman of the Year Awards evening was a great success. 

Just over 80 people attended the cocktail party in the King's Tavern to honour our sportsmen and women who have achieved so much over the past 12 months.

The five nominees for the main award, the Sportsman of the Year were;

Michael Batty - Water Polo.
Stephen Cook - Cricket.
Gus Pinker - Water Polo
Mitchell van Buuren - cricket
Colin Webster - War Games

Stephen Cook was announced as the Sportsman of the Year for his maiden century in his first Test against England as well as the way he batted for the Highveld Lions scoring 738 runs in the four day Sunfoil series with a highest score of an undefeated 168.

As Stephen is in Australia with the Proteas his father, Jimmy Cook the former South African opening batsman, accepted the award on his behalf.

Gus Pinker for his contribution to the Technical side of water polo, including being invited to the Olympic Games for the fourth time to officiate, was runner up.

the full list of award winners is;

Best Junior Girl - Elisha Retief - War Games
Best Junior Boy - Kyle Coker - Hockey
Best schoolboy playing sport for the Society and Junior Sportsman of the Year - Mitchell van Buuren, Cricket.
Best senior achievement - Colin Webster - War Games
The Team Trophy was awarded jointly to the mens 1st hockey team and the boys under 13 hockey team.
The Sportsmanship award went to Andrew Craig from the Boat Club.
The sub club of the year was hockey.
The Chairman's award went to Colin Webster.

The evening underlines the wonderful talent that exists within the sub-clubs of the Society.