WHS hockey girls in record 14th win

WINDHOEK High School’s (WHS) girls’ first hockey team won the annual Kom-En-Haal secondary schools tournament for a record 14th time at the Doc Jubber Field last Saturday.

The girls’ tournament was divided into two pools and WHS ended top in their pool. They played against Walvis Bay High School in the semi-final.Walvis Bay gave a good count of themselves and kept the WHS strikers at bay.The two sides drew 0-all, but WHS won 4-1 on penalty strokes.In the other semi-final, defending champions St Paul’s College defeated Academia High School on penalty strokes too, after the two sides played to a goalless draw in normal play.St Paul’s defeated WHS last year on penalty strokes and this year WHS was well prepared and beat them 4-0 on penalty strokes after the two sides played to a goalless stalemate in regulation time.The WHS goalkeeper, Nicole Botha, was the hero in the semi-final and final when she saved eight penalties in total (four in the semi and four in the final).In the boys’ final, last year’s runners-up St George’s made it to the final, but lost the Doc Jubber Trophy to the Saints (St Paul’s) 3-1, after a 0-all draw.A total of 16 teams representing 11 schools competed, with nine girls’ teams and seven boys’ teams represented.The winners received trophies and gold medals, while the runners-up received silver medals.Meanwhile, the Namibia Hockey Union (NHU) has announced that the nationwide schools’ league will kick off this weekend countrywide.The NHU will also host an all-day field hockey tournament this Saturday at the Doc Jubber Fields in Olympia.It is the first time in more than ten years that the NHU is hosting a tournament of this nature.The tournament will mark the start of the new field league season scheduled for June 16.Teams will compete in the premier and reserve league categories.The tournament will also serve as the final trials to select the Namibia senior men’s and women’s national teams that will represent Namibia at the Africa Olympic qualifying tournament scheduled for July 14 to 22 in Nairobi, Kenya.Sixteen players will be selected per national team on Saturday.The 2008 Olympic Games qualifier is an important tournament, as both the winners and runners-up at the event will qualify automatically for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India.The winner of the Olympic qualifier in Kenya will qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.The runner-up could attend another qualifying tournament still to be confirmed.They played against Walvis Bay High School in the semi-final.Walvis Bay gave a good count of themselves and kept the WHS strikers at bay.The two sides drew 0-all, but WHS won 4-1 on penalty strokes.In the other semi-final, defending champions St Paul’s College defeated Academia High School on penalty strokes too, after the two sides played to a goalless draw in normal play.St Paul’s defeated WHS last year on penalty strokes and this year WHS was well prepared and beat them 4-0 on penalty strokes after the two sides played to a goalless stalemate in regulation time.The WHS goalkeeper, Nicole Botha, was the hero in the semi-final and final when she saved eight penalties in total (four in the semi and four in the final).In the boys’ final, last year’s runners-up St George’s made it to the final, but lost the Doc Jubber Trophy to the Saints (St Paul’s) 3-1, after a 0-all draw.A total of 16 teams representing 11 schools competed, with nine girls’ teams and seven boys’ teams represented.The winners received trophies and gold medals, while the runners-up received silver medals.Meanwhile, the Namibia Hockey Union (NHU) has announced that the nationwide schools’ league will kick off this weekend countrywide.The NHU will also host an all-day field hockey tournament this Saturday at the Doc Jubber Fields in Olympia.It is the first time in more than ten years that the NHU is hosting a tournament of this nature.The tournament will mark the start of the new field league season scheduled for June 16.Teams will compete in the premier and reserve league categories.The tournament will also serve as the final trials to select the Namibia senior men’s and women’s national teams that will represent Namibia at the Africa Olympic qualifying tournament scheduled for July 14 to 22 in Nairobi, Kenya.Sixteen players will be selected per national team on Saturday.The 2008 Olympic Games qualifier is an important tournament, as both the winners and runners-up at the event will qualify automatically for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India.The winner of the Olympic qualifier in Kenya will qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.The runner-up could attend another qualifying tournament still to be confirmed.