The Tuks men’s hockey team proved by winning the USSA Tournament that long and hard hours of training do pay off.
Tuks clinched the title in Durban by beating Maties 4-1 in the final. In five games, the champions scored 22 goals and only conceded six. Coach SigzNtuli can be forgiven for thinking, “I love it when a plan comes together”.
“Winning USSA’s is a just reward. The players genuinely have worked hard and made sacrifices. We are often accused of overdoing things. But our performance now justifies what we have been doing.
“I am obviously proud of the ‘boys’. But to be honest, I am not surprised by the outcome.”
Last year after Tuks won the Varsity Tournament, Ntuli expressed concern as to the fact that his team is not playing enough crunch games.
“Our players hardly ever get challenged in any local league game. They are cruising. Winning one game after another. It is different in the Johannesburg and the Western Cape leagues. That is why the Maties, Wits and UJ players are used to handling pressure situations on the field.”
For this reason, Ntuli decided to withdraw Tuks from playing the Northerns League this season.
“We did so to ensure the ‘boys’ get to play against more formidable opposition. Over the last six months, we travelled quite a bit. We have been to Durban twice and regularly played against Johannesburg’s best teams. We played 20 games in the buildup to USSA’s. So we were well prepared.
One of the critical aspects of the Tuks game is to get their opposition to concede penalty corners. There is a good reason for doing so. Guy Morgan is possibly one of the best drag flickers in South African hockey. On a good day, he hardly misses. During USSA’s, he scored seven goals in five games.
“What excited me is that we did not only score from penalty corners. There were some brilliant field goals. Most impressive for me was how each player contributed to our victory. Our team has several debutants who have only played for Tuks for six months. But you would not have said them if you had seen them play during USSA’s. They stepped up, especially at crucial moments.”
The one disappointment for Ntuli is that it has been decided to cancel the Varsity Hockey Tournament.
“It basically means Tuks’s season is done and dusted for the year. We can only hope that there will be a Varsity Tournament next year. As it is a definite highlight in student hockey.”