MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

The four-nations in Australia provided the SA women's team with the experience of touring in a foreign country and competing in a tournament environment.   Except for participation in major events such as the World Cup and Commonwealth Games every four years, the national team more often than not competes in one-on-one test series which do not place as many physical and especially mental demands on players and officials.  Tournament hockey has the effect of cumulatively adding pressure on the team to perform. Our opponents in the Telstra Challenge were India, South Korea and hosts, Australia. India is a vastly improved team, evidenced by their two wins against South Korea. The Koreans, always very tough opponents, play a physical and high intensity style of hockey that is very difficult to counter.

South Africa has only played South Korea once in more than a hundred matches since readmission to international competition - we lost to them in the OQT in November 1995 - and so our victory in the opening game against them had special significance. As an added benefit, the tour gave us the opportunity to make a realistic appraisal of our position relative to other teams and to measure our performance against opponents that play a different brand of hockey - distinct from Australia, England and the like. However, it was a challenge to play

against Australia again as they had had three weeks intensive full time training since returning home from their tour to South Africa in March. All in all, we achieved some fantastic results though our final match against the Aussies was perhaps the most disappointing.   We played the game with two injured midfielders and had a player sent off.   These factors, coupled with the effect of a demanding travel schedule, prevented us from performing at our best. Team: Karen Roberts (Captain), Lindsey Carlisle (Vice Captain), Kerry Bee, Caryn Bentley, Pietie Coetzee, Sharon Cormack, Alison Dare, Megan Dobson, Jackie Geyser, Natalie Haynes, Anli Kotze, Karen Symons, Abigail van Schlkwyk, Inke van Wyk, Carina van Zijl, Paola Vidulich and Sue Wessels. Officials: Gene Muller (Coach), Ann Neilson (Manager), Gill Montague (Assistant Coach), Shamim Khan (Physiotherapist) and Greg Beling (Video Operator).

The South African men's national team travelled to Buenos Aires over Easter to participate in a tournament along with England, Argentina A and Argentina B.   The team played three matches prior to the start of the event, beating hosts Argentina A 3-2 in the opening game.   This was a great effort considering that we had flown in the day before.

The next game against the Argentina B team was also won, albeit narrowly 2-1. SA lost the final warm-up match to England 2-6.   England's specialist striker Calum Giles was in top form, converting two penalty corners from three opportunities.

England continued their good showing in the next game against SA, this time winning 6-0 and once again it was Calum Giles who slotted three corners.

Argentina B managed to pull off a surprise 1-1 draw against the SA team who by their own admission were well below par.   This result meant that SA were unable to contest a place in the final irrespective of their result against Argentina A, a game that was lost by a narrow 2-1 margin.
Argentina A went on to gain top honours, defeating England 5-1 in the final.

Team:   Craig Jackson (Captain), Clyde Abrahams, Warren Bond, Gregg Clark, Mike Cullen, Steven Evans, Craig Fulton, Darryn Gallagher, Brenton Key, Justin King, Brad Michalaro, Brad Milne, Gregor Maier, Gareth Murray, Greg Nicol, Emile Smith and Rorie Wilson.
Officials: Giles Bonnet (Coach), Dave Carr (Manager), Phil Wallis (Assistant Coach), Greg Beling (Video Operator), Winston Baadjies (Physio) and Clinton Gahwiler (Psychologist).

Summary of Results:

USSASA
The USSASA National Hockey Executive has adopted SAHA's policy guidelines on representation in USSASA provincial teams from U13 to U18 levels.   Selections will be monitored by a Transformation Committee comprising USSASA Executive members.

USSASA administrators are busy putting the finishing touches to the arrangements for the 18 USSASA tournaments that will take place during the three week winter vacation.   Players and coaches will benefit from the advice of Coaching Advisers at various tournaments.   After each of the Boys' and Girls' U18 Championships teams will be announced to undertake the following tours:
* U16 A (boys and girls) and U18 B (girls) to Zimbabwe in early August 1999.
* U18 A (girls and boys) for the FIH World U18 Festivals in December 1999.
In addition the U16 B girls will have a camp in August 1999 in Durban.

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PRIMARY HOCKEY
Hundreds of youngsters have completed the Skills Challenge and are proudly sporting their new tracksuit badges.   Numerous provinces made the "Achievements in Skills Challenge" an integral part of their selection process.   Most reported that it allowed for easier selection in the first rounds.

The USSASA U13 Winter Games will take place in Gauteng in mid July and talented players will receive recognition.   This is the first step in the talent identification programme of USSASA.   Umpires will receive coaching and grading at the tournament.   This event will also see the compulsory use of mouth guards, a policy adopted by USSASA Primary Executive in the interests of safety.   Mouth guards have been donated by Pro-Fit for players who cannot afford them.
Numerous regional festivals will also take place during this period.   These cater for the younger age groups to gain experience, improve their skills and meet other hockeyites.

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DEVELOPMENT
SAHA has established a database of historically disadvantaged clubs and has agreed to assist these clubs financially this season.   There are 41 such registered clubs with 77 teams entered in local leagues.

The trustees of the SA Hockey Development Trust are busy assessing the development projects undertaken by the provinces and the funding allocations will be confirmed shortly.   The trust continues to contribute to special projects and assist players to meet the costs of tours and tournaments.

Fifty letters were received from children in Clarens, Northern Free State, thanking SAHA for the equipment donated for the launch of hockey in their community.   St Martins School in Gauteng recently received a grant to enable pupils from disadvantaged schools to attend a three day coaching course facilitated by Alistair Fredericks and the students of Wits Technikon.   These schools will now be brought into the South Gauteng leagues.

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AFRICAN HOCKEY FEDERATION
The recent trip undertaken by Gill Taylor and Theo Ykema was very successful and has resulted in further funding being allocated to the Uganda and Tanzania Hockey Unions to uplift their hockey projects.   An FIH Special Coaching Course has been planned to coincide with the All Africa Games in September.
This will give exposure specifically to coaches from African countries who do not have the opportunity to travel the international circuit.

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GENERAL
The NSC invited two of our players to travel to Northern Ireland on an exchange programme in May.   Melissa Rankin and Amien Patel proved worthy ambassadors for SAHA and their two week trip was a great success.   The participants were drawn from all codes and were fortunate to be guests at an international in Dublin, Ireland against Scotland.

Gill Montague is due to leave for Paris in mid-June on an exchange programme between the National Department of Sport and Recreation and the French Embassy.

Giles Bonnet and Gene Muller are at present attending an FIH Final Coaching Course in Brisbane, Australia.   Giles is already an FIH accredited coach but Gene has not been able to attend a course until now.   The week long course coincides with the men's and women's Champions Trophies and we look forward to receiving their feedback on the world's top teams.

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The 1999 Under 21 Men's and Women's Interprovincial Tournaments took place from 2 - 8 May
We had planned to experiment with a new 16-team format at both tournaments but the late withdrawal of Zimbabwe's men's and women's teams had us scrambling for replacements.   Host Border fielded a second team in the men's competition but we were unable to secure a sixteenth team to balance the pools in the women's event and this caused a few problems.

In the men's tournament Western Province proved too good for Southern Gauteng in the final.   Eastern Province had a good run in the pool games but had to settle for fourth place behind Kwazulu Natal.

In the women's tournament Kwazulu Natal once again were too strong for the other teams and won the final quite convincingly against Southern Gauteng.   Northerns 'Blues' tried in vain to defend their 1998 title but had to settle for fourth place behind Western Province.

Boland were newcomers to the tournament and even though they found the going quite tough the experience and enjoyment gained will no doubt see them back in 2000.
Final placings for both tournaments were as follows:

FINAL PLACINGS
	WOMEN		MEN
1.	KwaZulu Natal		Western Province
2.	Southern Gauteng		Southern Gauteng
3.	Western Province		KwaZulu Natal
4.	Northerns		Eastern Province
5.	Border		Border
6.	Free State		Peninsula
7.	Natal Midlands		Natal Midlands
8.	North West		KZN Mynahs
9.	Eastern Province		Northerns
10.	Peninsula		Free State
11.	Witwatersrand		Natal Midlands B
12.	Boland		Griqualand West
13.	KZN Mynahs		Witwatersrand
14.	Natal Midlands B		Eastern Province B
15.	Eastern Gauteng		Border B
16.			Eastern Gauteng

The following players were selected for the U21 Tournament Teams in recognition of their performance throughout the week.

Men's Tournament Team		Women's Tournament Team
Jodax Beaumont	(KZN)	Ladonna Bentley	(KZN)
Bevan Bennett	(Border)	Caroline Birt	(SG)
Stuart Berry	(WP)	Zanelle Burger	(Northerns)
Jade Hearn	(WP)	Candice Forward	(KZN)
Grant James	(KZN)	Kate Hector	(KZN)
Andrew McLaughlan	(WP)	Taryn Hosking	(Border)
Jonathan Martin	(SG)	Johke Koornhof	(WP)
Simon Martin	(WP)	Taryn Laurie	(KZN)
Kuks Mathele	(Northerns)	Elfrieda Maas	(Northerns)
Craig Maud	(N Midlands)	Marsha Marescia	(KZN)
Justin Morris	(N Midlands)	Sophie Mayer	(SG)
Wayne Palmer	(EP)	Bronwyn Ross	(KZN)
Justin Rosenberg	(SG)	Samantha Solomon	(WP)
Brett Tucker	(SG)	Dom van den Berg	(KZN)
Rory Wilson	(SG)	Mariska van der Merwe	(FS)
Sean Wilson	(SG)	Jenny Wilson	(KZN)

Congratulations to all of you and thanks to Border and Natal Midlands for hosting the IPTs

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SOUTHERN GAUTENG TAKE THE NEDBANK NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE TITLE

Southern Gauteng held on to pip Natal Midlands on goal difference to be crowned the 1999 Nedbank NHL champions.

Going into the last match against Western Province after drawing 2-2 with the 1998 champions KZN Raiders the previous day, Southern Gauteng threw everything into their game but in the end were beaten 2-1.   Although this loss took off a bit of the shine, Southerns had scored enough goals during the league to oust Natal Midlands on goal difference and were crowned champions, thus also ending Kwazulu Natal's reign of the past two years.

Natal Midlands were looked upon as easy prey at the beginning of the season but they proved that through a combination of total commitment and inspirational displays by national players, Darryn Gallagher and David Viney, they can take on the so-called major provinces.

Western Province improved on last year's display by ending fourth and will be pushing hard for top honours at the 1999 Nedbank Shield.

Griqualand West found the going rather tough but hopefully the experience gained by the players will hold them in good stead for the future.

Our thanks go to our sponsors NEDBANK for their commitment to hockey.

	FINAL PLACINGS		Top Goal Scorers:
1	Southern Gauteng		Greg Nicol	(KZN)	13
2	Natal Midlands		Paul du Plessis	(SG)	10
3	KwaZulu Natal		Darryn Gallagher	(NMID)	8
4	Western Province		Dale Isaacs	(NMID)	8
5	Eastern Province		Ryan Shrives	(NOR)	7
6	Northerns
7	Border
8	Free State
9	Griqualand West

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SOUTHERN GAUTENG DOMINATE THE SPAR NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

The senior women's team from Southern Gauteng completely dominated the SPAR NHL this year and will be going all out to win the SPAR Women's IPT in July 1999.

Although without their national players at times (due to international duty) Southerns showed they had the resources to carry their team to victory.

Kwazulu Natal who had played some great hockey during the league were no match for Southerns and went down 3-1 on the last weekend, leaving Southerns to either draw with or beat Western Province to take the crown.   Such was Southerns determination not to be outdone by the Capetonians as in 1998, they gave WP a 7-0 hockey lesson to ensure their victory.

The Eastern Province side who started the league off very shakily put their game plan together in their last four matches to earn 4th place on the log.

The newly promoted Border team was the find of the league this year and they took on some of the more senior teams with good results.

Both Northerns and North West will have to improve if they are to contest for top honours at the Spar Women's IPT.

SPAR WOMEN'S NHL

	FINAL PLACINGS		Top Goal Scorers:
1	Southern Gauteng		Pietie Coetzee	(SG)	12
2	Kwazulu Natal		Shelley Gray	(SG)	12
3	Western Province		Candice Forward	(KZN)	11
4	Eastern Province		Susan Wessels	(NOR)	8
5	Border
6	Northerns
7	North West
8	Natal Midlands
9	Free State

Our thanks once again go to Brian Beavon and his team for their ongoing support of women's hockey.

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UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS

Please note that the SPAR Women's Interprovincial Tournament will now be played at the Technikon Pretoria and not Randburg as previously indicated due to delays in upgrading the stadium.

North Festival	07 - 11 June	Pietermaritzburg
SASSU 'A'	28 June - 2 July	Potchefstroom
SASSU 'B'	28 June - 2 July	Cape Town
SASSU 'C'	28 June - 2 July	Johannesburg
Country Districts (w)	04 - 10 July	George
Country Districts (m)	18 - 24 July	Durban
Nedbank Shield	20 - 24 July	Port Elizabeth
SPAR Women's IPT	27 - 31 July	Pretoria

SUPPORT THE TOURNAMENT BEING PLAYED IN YOUR CITY

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UMPIRING
The following awards were made at the U21 tournaments:

Elize D van Schalkwyk	(WP)	National II
Emma Church	(Bor)	National II
Wendy van Wyk	(SG)	National III
Des Marnewick	(SG)	National III
Tanya Schafer	(KZN)	National IV
Nolan Day	(MPUM)	National II
Kevin Rom	(KZN)	National II
Elijah Ncube	(NOR)	National III
Ian de Vega	(EP)	National IV
Well Done and Congratulations

Good Luck and Well Done to both Garth Proudfoot and Maralize de Klerk for being appointed to umpire at the 1999 Champions Trophy being held in Brisbane, Australia.

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