GRAAFF-REINET HOCKEY NEWS - Around 60 hockey stars in the making were treated to a tournament and training session with homegrown Protea player Cornelle Holtzhausen at Union High's astroturf on Saturday 19 October.

The youngsters included players from Kroonvale Primary, Graaff-Reinet Primary, Lingcom Primary and Narsingstraat Primary School. The latter won the tournament after a final face-off with Graaff-Reinet Primary School. Although the game ended in a draw of 2 - 2, Narsingstraat managed to score the first goal in overtime.

The day was sponsored by local financial planner, Lyndon West, from Masthead Financial Planning. "I picked hockey because it does not always get attention at school level," he explained. "I want children to try out different sports to see what they might be good at; you never know what talent is out there."

He approached Ina Botha from Karoo Hokkieskool, who asked her daughter, Holtzhausen, to join. Together with Leah Marais from Union and Mia du Plessis from Hoër Volkskool (both coached by Botha), there was no shortage of skills.

"It was a beautiful day, to see the young players so positive," Botha told the Advertiser. According to her, it was also special to see the players' reactions to meeting a Protea player. "They were so excited to meet [Holtzhausen], and even asked her to sign their hockey sticks." Botha believes that such events are important to uplift young local hockey talent.

West hopes that the day will become an annual event.

We are the champions! Narsingstraat Primary won the tournament.

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