THE PHL REVEALS U21 TEAMS FOR THE 2016 EVENT
5th August 2016
With less than 24 hours to go to the first ever Premier Hockey League player draft, the PHL has unveiled two of the playing squads that will be playing in the 2016 event.
While 10 of the 12 playing squads will be selected via Saturday’s draft, the South African Hockey Association has decided that both the SA men’s and women’s U21 national squads will play in the new event as franchise teams. The men’s U21 team will play as the Golden Gate Gladiators and the women’s U21 team will play as the Lip Ice Namaqualand Daisies.
This is in order to help them to prepare for their respective Hockey Junior World Cups that take place in India (men) and Chile (women) towards the end of the year.
“We decided to allow our national U21 team’s to participate as franchise teams to give them as much quality game time as possible in the build up to their two Junior World Cup’s. If the U21 team experiment proves a success then we may make these age group national teams a permanent fixture in future PHLs,” said Marissa Langeni, the CEO of SAHA.
“Not only is the PHL good practice for the upcoming Junior World Cup but the U21 men’s team plans to be really competitive. The team has had great practice and they know each other well. As such, we have a competitive edge that the rest of the teams don’t. With star players such as Rob McKinley, Ryan Crowe, Ryan Julius and Alex Stewart, the squad has already proved that they are equipped to take the team to the next level,” commented Garreth Ewing, Coach of the Golden Gate Gladiators men’s team.
“With the U21 women’s team only recently been announced, the ladies will be using the PHL as a form of preparation for the Junior World Cup. The PHL is going to give us the platform to get the team together and really build camaraderie. The core group are good sportswoman and I am positive that with players such as Tarryn Glasby, Marizen Marais, Marilize van Tonder, Tegan Fourie and Sandi Tabata we will be victorious,” added Patrick Tshushani, Head Coach of the Lip Ice Namaqualand Daisies women’s team.
The 10 other PHL teams (five men’s and five women’s) will be selected via a unique player draft that takes place this Saturday (6th August 2016). The draft commences at 10am on Saturday morning and interested parties will be able to follow it live online, via the new PHL website (www.premierhockeyleague.co.za) which launches late tonight.
The draft, which has been inspired by American sports leagues, such as the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Football League (NFL), is a squad selection process that sees the coaches of each PHL team take turns, based on an order sequence drawn out of a hat, to choose from a pool of eligible players.
Golden Gate Gladiators Playing Squad (Men’s Team):
1 Charles Bowren
2 Ryan Crowe
3 Matthew De Sousa
4 Tyson Dlungwana
5 Courtney Halle
6 Ryan Julius
7 Tevin Kok
8 Nduduzo Lembethe
9 Amkelwe Letuka
10 Kyle Lion-Cachet
11 Rob McKinley
12 Steve McManus
13 Khumo Mokale
14 Siya Nolutshungu
15 Bili Ntuli
16 Walter Pfaff
17 Jayson Reed
18 Tylo Remke
19 Bjorn Sorensen
20 Alex Stewart
Golden Gate Gladiators Coaching Team:
|
Head Coach |
Trainers |
Manager |
|
Garreth Ewing |
Neville Rothman & |
Lindsay De Kock |
The Lip Ice Namaqualand Daisies (Women’s Team):
1 Danni Cairns
2 Gretchin Davids
3 Alegra Dijkstra
4 Natalie Esteves
5 Amy Etherington
6 Tegan Fourie
7 Tarryn Glasby
8 Antoinette Louw
9 Sisipho Magwaza
10 Nthabi Maine
11 Ongi Mali
12 Marizen Marais
13 Kirsten Paton
14 Marissa Poolman
15 Christine Seggie
16 Shindre-Lee Simmons
17 Donna Small
18 Sandi Tabata
19 Marilize van Tonder
20 Margeruite Van Wyk
The Lip Ice Namaqualand Daisies Coaching Team:
|
Head Coach |
Trainers |
Manager |
|
Patrick Tshushani |
Gregg Hesom & Inky Zondi |
Bridget Kee |
