SA hockey looks to Athens
Brad Morgan
2 January 2004
It has, on the whole, been a good year for South African hockey. The national women's team has achieved some breakthrough results, while the men have also claimed some big scalps. It's something that happened off the field, however, that indicates how far the game in South Africa has really come.
Both the men's and women's teams were in action at the All Africa Games in Abuja in October, and there was plenty to play for: the winners of the competitions would automatically qualify for the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004.
Admittedly, there was no real opposition to challenge the women, who blasted Nigeria 10-0 in the gold medal game.
For the men there was their traditional rival on the African continent, Egypt, to contend with. In the round-robin part of the competition the South African team beat the Egyptians comfortably, but in a crushing blow they suffered a 3-2 loss to the same team in the final.
Terrible
setback
It was a terrible setback. Previously, South Africa had qualified for the Olympic Games in 2000, but - in a decision that has never been satisfactorily explained - the National Olympic Committee of South Africa (Nocsa) chose to exclude the hockey side from the national Olympic team, while all other eligible sports teams were included.
Now, in 2003, it appeared that the South African men's hockey team would again be missing the Olympics.
Allow me to digress for a moment. Personally, I was very disappointed in the decision to exclude the men's hockey team from the 2000 Olympic Games. (The explanation given was that men's hockey was not doing enough to advance the game throughout all racial groups.)
Hockey was one of my chosen sports, and I managed to play it at a provincial level, where I enjoyed contact with many players who went on to become international players.
Later, after my playing days, as a radio journalist I had been
particularly supportive of the national team and come to know many of the players better. I spoke to some of them after their exclusion from Sydney 2000, and there was a fair deal of bitterness at their omission.
It also hurt me because I had been involved in the development of the game before South Africa became a democracy in 1994. This involved my travelling to a black township twice a week to coach youngsters. All equipment was provided to them, and I gave of my time and knowledge.
I also knew that I was not the only one involved in the development programme, and that it was something that had been instigated at a national level. So, I felt the treatment of men's hockey - the women's team was allowed to go to Sydney in 2000 – was wrong.
But something has happened between the 2000 Olympic Games and the present. Let me explain what happened after the All Africa Games loss to Egypt.
Two out of three
There wasn't much time
for the men's team to dwell on a second sickening setback, because they had the Afro-Asian Games to contest shortly after their efforts in Abuja.
In Hyderabad, Craig Jackson and company drew their first game against Malaysia, lost 2-0 to the powerful South Koreans, and then thumped Ghana 5-0. This left the team in a playoff for fifth and sixth place - ironically, against Egypt.
This time around South Africa reversed the result, winning 3-2, for their second victory in three matches against the North Africans in 2003. The only problem was that South Africa had lost the wrong game.
That's where the change became apparent, however, because the South African Hockey Association chose to enter the men's team in the Olympic qualifier, set to take place in Madrid in early March of 2004.
Nocsa got behind the effort to qualify, and, from all accounts, should the South African men manage to finish in the top seven teams at the qualifier - which is what is required for
a trip to Athens - they will indeed be on their way to Greece.
It is going to require a huge effort from coach Paul Revington's charges to win through, though. They face eight teams ranked above them in the world rankings, including second-ranked The Netherlands, fifth-ranked Pakistan, number six India and ninth-ranked Spain, who will no doubt be very tough on home turf.
Good results
When the Spaniards visited South Africa early in 2003 they comfortably dealt with the home team, but there have been encouraging signs of improvement since that time.
After the Spanish series loss, at the BDO Challenge in Johannesburg, South Africa finished third in a very strong competition which Spain won, with South Korea ending second.
During the course of the competition, South Africa defeated Malaysia, South Korea and New Zealand, three teams that are all ranked above South Africa ahead of the Madrid qualifier.
Those results are
certainly cause for optimism. Also, the fact that Spain won the tournament with an emphatic 7-3 thrashing of the powerful Koreans made South Africa's series defeat to the Spaniards more palatable.
Now, thankfully, Olympic qualification rests in the hands of the hockey players themselves, and politicians won't be interfering in the players' efforts to make it to Athens.
Women beat the best
What about the women? I mentioned earlier that they had enjoyed a good year. Let me tell you more.
Arguably, the national women's team's best results of 2003 occurred in the Korean Telekom Cup. Those results included a convincing win over world number two The Netherlands, a draw against South Africa's nemesis and world number four Australia, a draw against world number eight Spain, a loss to tournament winners England, and a victory over the hosts South Korea, who were also ranked above South Africa and are presently ranked fourth in the world.
The South African team followed those results with a sound thrashing of Scotland in a three-test series, and then went on to completely dominate the All Africa Games, where they scored 55 goals in only six matches.
At the Afro-Asian Games, Susan Webber's side also achieved some notable victories. The biggest of these was the 4-0 drubbing of China in the semi-finals. The Chinese had won the Champions Trophy in 2002, a tournament that features the top six ranked teams in the world. Obviously, with a 4-0 scoreline, there was nothing lucky about South Africa's victory.
In the finals, Ros Howell's charges succumbed to India 5-4 on penalties after the teams had finished regulation time tied at 1-1. That was a real disappointment, as South Africa had beaten the Commonwealth champion Indians 3-1 to qualify for the semi-finals.
It nonetheless showed just how far the South African women's hockey team has come in 2003. Far enough, in fact, that it could make some
real noise at the Athens Olympics next year.
Let's hope the men's team qualifies to join the women there.
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