National women’s hockey coach Jenny King says her team’s trip to Dublin next month for a four-nation tournament is the ideal start to the International season.
The tournament involves South Africa, Ireland, Scotland and Germany, following which South Africa and Ireland will play a two-Test series in Dublin.
King told gsport: “It has a mix of highly-ranked teams (Germany), and teams ranked the same as us (Scotland and Ireland). It will allow our players to find their feet in match situations again, as well as really stretch the team in the German game, and perhaps a final.”
A number of South Africa’s top players retired after the World Cup in Spain last year, but King isn’t dwelling on that, and is keen to see the young players come into their own.
“Young players learn quicker than older players, so change is facilitated quicker. They are eager to learn, and there is seldom complacency due to their enthusiasm to want to be in the team,” said King.
But she admits there is no replacement for experience, especially in pressure situations. “Problems do arise especially when traveling abroad as they (young players) tend to be overawed by the experience.
"They often lose focus due to the many distractions, and extended stays away from home sometimes cause them to be a little vulnerable.”
King is hoping that the team will regain their form prior to the first match, with the help of a six-day training camp and three training games.
“We need to aim to beat Ireland and Scotland, as they have the same world ranking as SA, and then ultimately take points off the German team.
“We have not proved successful in tournament situations over the last 12 months, and we would like to start turning our tournament performances and results around. This means the teams adaptability to different styles of hockey needs to mature and improve.”
The SPAR SA Women’s Hockey team will gather at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria on Monday June 4 for a short training camp before leaving for Ireland on Saturday, June 9.
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