On October 14, the SPAR Schoolgirls Challenge team gathered at The Vaal University Technology sports grounds for the first of two events in the Vanderbijlpark area this season.
100 enthusiastic under 13 girls assembled to participate in an all-day hockey extravaganza broadcast live on the Supersport School App from Izak Steyl Stadium grounds. Pretoria based Eldoraigne Club sent one of it’s U13 teams to play against Noordskool, Laerskool Kollegepark, Curro Vanderbijlpark and Laerskool Frikkie Meyer. Lumiére Primary School travelled the 15km across the Vaal River from Sasolburg to participate on a sunny Saturday morning.
The action got underway with Curro Vanderbijlpark taking on Eldoraigne before the crowd favourites, based on shouts from the stands, Laerskool Kollegepark took on Laerskool Frikkie Meyer. Noordskool played Lumiére Primary School to finish off the opening round. The Challenge winner would be determined by goals scored in the round robin format.
Going into the last round of matches Eldoraigne were in prime position to take home the trophy but Laerskool Kollegepark had other ideas. The Kollepark team edged ever closer to the 14 goals scored by Eldoraigne in the round robin stages and with just a few minutes left on the clock drew level on goals scored.
Cue an 8 second shoot-out to determine who takes the SPAR trophy home.
The shoot-out was balanced on a knife-edge before Laerskool Kollegepark emerged victorious with two goals in their three attempts. Players and parents, who had cheered and shouted all day, burst into more cheers and whooping at the final whistle.
On October 28th, we will be back for the Under 15 version of the SPAR Schoolgirls Challenge.