Grey High relish chance to host prestigious Nomads Festival
The Grey High hockey team are relishing the prospect of showcasing what they have to offer when they host the prestigious Nomads Festival on the Rectory astro from Saturday to Monday.
This tournament features many of the top hockey schools in the country, but has been disrupted due to Covid, with Grey being prevented from hosting the event in 2020 just days before the start.
Last year it was back in full swing when Selborne College were the hosts in East London to celebrate their 150th jubilee year.
Now Grey finally get their chance and coach Mazan Dos Santos, who has been with the team since 2019, said they were excited at being part of this high-quality event
“Even though Nomads comes early in our season, we are going into the tournament with the hopes of being unbeaten and to be as competitive as possible,” he said.
“We want to show our brand of hockey and it’s a great opportunity for the boys to showcase their talent, to make some mates and to play some seriously competitive hockey. You could not ask for a better platform when starting a season.”
Since he began coaching the team, Dos Santos said this was the first year when the majority of the team would be new.
“We have some key senior players who have been in the system for some time and quite a number of new players who are highly talented, and we expect the same exciting hockey from this team as we have from any other.
“Grey High is a diverse and holistic school and with all the pupils’ commitments we respect their obligations to summer sport.
“However, we do run high performance sessions with selected large groups from October to February and this allows us to keep them up to date with stick and ball and to keep them in the system for the upcoming season.
“We are also fortunate enough to always play the Tony Godding Festival, which gives the guys some caps and important time on the pitch.”
Dos Santos said there would be intense competition over the three days at Grey, but added there was more to the Nomads Festival than just the results.
“Of course, the challenges presented will contribute to the development of the boys but, as senior coaches, we also need to remember that the aim of tournament is for them to have fun and to remember the reason why they started playing this sport and the opportunities that have come from playing hockey.
“In my opinion, remaining undefeated and getting great results should not outweigh this.”
The fixtures are:
Saturday, April 1: 7.30am: St John’s v Grey College, 8.35: Wynberg v Maritzburg College, 9.40: Pretoria Boys’ High v St Charles, 10.45: KES v Hilton, 11.50: Jeppe v Grey High, 12.55: St John’ sv Maritzburg College, 2pm: Wynberg v St Charles, 3.05: Pretoria Boys’ High v Hilton, 4.10: Jeppe v Grey College, 5.15: KES v Grey High
Sunday, April 2: 7.30am: Wynberg v Hilton, 8.35: St John’s v St Charles, 9.40: Jeppe v Maritzburg College, 10.45: KES v Grey College, 11.50: Pretoria Boys’ High v Grey High, 12.55: St John’s v Hilton, 2pm: Jeppe v St Charles, 3.05: KES v Wynberg, 4.10: Pretoria Boys’ High v Grey College, 5.15: Maritzburg College v Grey High
Monday, April 3: 7.30: Maritzburg College v Grey College, 8.35: Pretoria Boys’ High v Wynberg, 9.40: KES v St Charles, 10.45: Jeppe v Hilton, 11.50: St John’s v Grey High