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Eastern Cape volleyball and hockey representation return to the Winter National School Sport Championship in KuGompo City starting on Saturday, with both codes vowing to get podium finishes to boost Team Eastern Cape’s medal count.
The two were absent in 2025 when the games were in KwaZulu-Natal and will replace netball from that edition.
The Winter NSSC, expected to attract about 3,000 people, including athletes, technical officials, team managers and parents from all nine provinces, includes hockey, rugby, volleyball and soccer and will run until Tuesday across the metro.
The Eastern Cape finished third overall in the medal table last year behind KwaZulu-Natal and eventual winners Western Cape.
Their medal tally included one gold from netball, two silver medals from rugby teams and a bronze medal from one of the netball teams.
Volleyball and hockey want to chip in with gold medals.
Hockey will have U14 boys and girls competing, and their games will be at the newly built turf at Stirling High from Saturday until Monday.
The province’s hockey team is made up of players from Nelson Mandela Bay, Buffalo City and OR Tambo.
They will have their training session at the Bunkershill Astro Turf on Thursday to add final touches.
The boys’ team will be head-coached by De Vos Malan’s Louelle Botha, and for the girls, Fernwood Park’s Claire Samery will be head mentor.
They will have to quickly drill the players on the tournament’s “Hockey5s”, which is different from the traditional version.
The format was five-a-side, with both teams fielding four field players and one goalkeeper, Eastern Cape schools hockey official Malcolm Mopp explained.
“The Eastern Cape last competed in the Winter Games in Benoni [2023]; hockey was not included by the organisers last year.
“We will start our camp as the Eastern Cape team on Thursday. Our players have not been involved in hockey fives in their careers.
“We are going to take them through the aspects of Hockey5s and make sure they are ready.
“We have very good players who are experienced at the national level,” Mopp, who is well-known in provincial circles from his heyday as a player, said.
With rain forecast in KuGompo City over the weekend, Mopp was crossing fingers that it would not affect their plans.
“There’s a very good drainage system on the Astro Turf, so I don’t think there will be much of a problem unless there’s lightning.
“I did forward the weather forecast, and they know they have to adapt their strategies accordingly.
“We expect to be at least in the medal count, if not among those who will be contesting for the gold,” Mopp said.
For volleyball, the province has the U14 and U17 for girls and boys and will have their games played at Hudson Park, Clarendon and iYunivesithi Walter Sisulu’s Potsdam campus.
The majority of the provincial volleyball teams arrived in KuGompo City on Wednesday to acclimatise and have two days of preparation before the sound of the first whistle on Saturday.
Its teams are made up of a majority of players from Amathole, OR Tambo and the Alfred Nzo region.
Mxeleli Mthonyama and Lebo Setsipeng from Mngazana, Luyanda Mda from Ngangelizwe and Lihle Gowa will be the head coaches of the respective teams.
“When we made our selection for our teams, we picked from the districts like Alfred Nzo for boys and girls from Amathole that are winning because we wanted that continuity,” Mthonyama, who also serves as chair for Eastern Cape Volleyball, said.
“We are hoping that our strategy will work and we have two days to work with the regions.”
In Johannesburg, in 2023, the girls came home with silver medals for U14 while the boys got fourth position. The U17 boys got bronze while the girls got fourth position.
The U14s were removed in the 2024 edition, and the Eastern Cape only sent U17s, where the boys came fourth and the girls sixth.
“We are hoping for an improvement from that team from two years ago,” Mthonyama said.
The opening ceremony is on Saturday at 5pm at Calvary Church in Quigney.
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