I loved playing against the best – ex-hockey star Pennefather

Former Ramblers, Windhoek Old Boys and Namibian national hockey all-rounder Luke Pennefather is one player whose hockey career went full circle.

After first representing South West Africa before independence, Pennefather also turned out for Namibia post-independence and is now featuring for the Namibian Masters.

Born in Durban, Pennefather grew up between Pretoria and Johannesburg, where he attended school before he was called up for compulsory military conscription by the South African Defence Force and deployed to the then South West Africa.

Pennefather explains: “My hockey journey started while I was in Standard 8 at CBC Mount Edmund Catholic Private in Pretoria, South Africa. I was always a team player who gave his all on the hockey field and someone who always tried to help the youngsters around me.

“I came with the army to South West Africa in 1986 and played for the defence force team first before I signed for the Combined Banks team in 1988 after completing my military service. I joined Wanderers and spent a season with them before I moved to Ramblers for three years.”

After Ramblers Pennefather, who tasted league success with every club he played for, went on to form the Windhoek Old Boys with Russell Bartlett.

Pennefather was both the captain and chairperson of the Old Boys club.

During his involvement with all his clubs, he played for both the South West Africa under-21, as well as the senior side.

“I had very fond memories on the hockey field in this country, both outdoors and indoors.

“I had one specific encounter against DTS during which I played my heart out. I haven’t picked up a hockey stick for about a year after my hip operation,” Pennefather says.

“We had this unofficial rivalry with DTS and matches between them and Ramblers never failed to entertain. Ramblers were one man short and they asked me to play. Everybody was hyped up for the encounter and it was a real battle. Ramblers won 2-1 and I scored both goals.”

However, Pennefather did not spend all his sporting years on hockey as he was also a midfielder for the school’s soccer team and a flyhalf for the rugby side.

The cricket team also got to experience some of Pennefather’s talent, whom he represented as an all-rounder while he was a formidable middle distance athlete.

“I feel honoured and privileged to have also represented independently on an international level. I was around when Namibia played her first test matches against Zimbabwe at the Doc Jubber Hockey Fields in Olympia shortly after independence,” the veteran star says.

“I didn’t make the initial A side in the first test and I played for the B side in the next game but I got selected for the A side in the third and final test. I must have impressed the selectors in that game because I went on to be a member of the full national side until 2011.”

Pennefather missed out on the World Cup in Germany but went on to captain the national team during test matches against Botswana and again during the Africa Cup in Botswana 2000. All in all, the Durban-born star was involved with the national team from the late 2000s.”

A normal day for Pennefather starts at 05h00 where goes to the gym or for a run but when he is on the farm, he goes cycling.

After retiring from the national team – the former Ramblers player started playing for the Masters team in 2018, which caters for players from 35 years but under 42 years old. The team competes in the South African Inter-Provincial Championships.

“It is quite a very competitive tournament,” he says, adding that “most of the players, especially those from South Africa are playing for active leagues where they even play over 120 matches throughout the season before the actual tournament.”

“In 2022 I joined the Masters World Cup which competes for the 50-plus category. The competition is very tough because those players are playing in different competitions that also pit them up against the South African universities’ national teams, who are much younger.”

Countries like Canada, Holland and Spain are regular participants at the tournament.

Pennefather, who has been working in sales for over 38 years, is currently employed by CIC Namibia for seven years, the official distributor and supply chain for Nestle and other fast moving consumer goods brands in Namibia.

The hockey veteran is married to Silke Pennefather, a former Ramblers and Namibian national team star defender, for “a wonderful 24 years now,” he says.

Pennefather mentions Peter Davidson as the coach with the biggest influence in his career, while he also had a few players from the younger generation who were hard to contain.

“From an early age Davidson had a pivotal role in my hockey career, both at club and at national team. As for my most difficult opponents, I was someone who just loved playing against the best. The best players also bring out your A game,” he notes.

“The most important thing is that your game improves if you play against the best. Your sense of awareness improves and you focus more. There were impressive youngsters like Reagon Graig and Joseph ‘Blaz’ Kashamako with whom I also played for the national side.”

Pennefather coaches at Windhoek High School twice a week and balances this with his invlovement with the Masters team, which train only on Saturday morning.

Pennefather, who says that hockey has changed drastically from the playing perspective, will travel to South Africa with the Masters side from 21 to 23 November.

“The game has become faster and more skillful. It’s more three dimensional with air sticks and more technical and tactical. The transformation is just out of this world, it’s unbelievable. The skill level of the young players is amazing and a lot more adventurous,” he says.

Asked if he is living his dream at the moment, Pennefather says he is living a fulfilling life now.

“I can confidently say now that I am a happily married man, who through God’s grace and mercy, has found contentment in life and a purpose to life, in all aspects of my life. Also, my life is more fulfilling now. I have had a relationship with God for the last four years now,” he notes.

Pennefather also reserved some advice for aspiring hockey players.

“To be become good you first have to practice discipline and respect. These two attributes come from within because no one in this world can give you discipline and respect. It is very imperative that you have to respect yourself and also respect others,” he says.

“I have seen so many sportsmen, I mean real talented young men with exceptional talent who never made it big just because they were not disciplined. You have to put in real hard shifts when you play and train. They did not respect their teammates, opponents and coaches.”

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