When the Paarl Boys’ High hockey staff hold their annual season’s review, one of the most important boxes they’ll tick is winning the interschools derby against Paarl Gimnasium.
The derby win isn’t a measure of the team’s success, but Boishaai understands the importance of the victory and the boost it gives their hockey programme.
Their 3-2 win over their rivals in Saturday’s heated clash in Paarl was their second in succession, following a dramatic 2-1 win last year. Putting matters into perspective, Paarl Boys’ High hadn’t beaten their arch-rival in six years before they claimed victory in 2025.
Boishaai is most commonly associated with its excellent rugby programme, but the hockey programme is now making waves and has become a force to be reckoned with.
They had to work hard for their win on Saturday, battling until the end and being rewarded with three goals in the second half.
“I’m super proud of the guys,” coach Rowan McLachlan told SuperSport Schools News.
“I thought we played well. Our game plan and what we had set out to do were on point.
“As a coaching staff, we painted a picture for the boys of how Paarl Gim plays. We did walk-throughs and went into detail about how they play.
“We prepared the best way possible, and they [our players] were calm because I believe there’s calmness in preparedness.”
Eli Baxter, Alex Lategan, and Ullrich Drotschie scored for the hosts.
While Paarl Gim never led, they caused Boishaai some moments of anxiety. “You train for those sorts of scenarios,” McLachlan explained. “We spoke about never looking at the scoreboard, and in our minds, the boys shouldn’t have known what the score was.
“The brand of hockey we try to play is keeping the ball. We try to starve the opposition of the ball, and we knew that would work against Paarl Gim because they are very counter-heavy.
“Even in the moments when they were scoring, we just kept the ball, stuck to our principles.
“We play a game where you’re going to concede, and you need to be comfortable with conceding, but you must outscore your opponent.”
Boishaai’s back-to-back wins against their rivals, while important in their own right, are part of a bigger plan that began after the Covid-19 pandemic, the coach shared.
“Before Covid, I thought we had good teams building up, and then Covid hit. We had to start building again.
“In 2024, I went down to the U16A team and started building with this group then. I came up with them after winning the U16 interschools game.
“In the school system, rugby will always get more, but I always say it’s all credit to them. Their programme started way before ours, and they’ve built something successful where people are keen to invest.
“We also need to build something people want to invest in, and winning interschools again is another step in the right direction.”
McLachlan also praised the contributions of the five senior players – captain Martin de Bruyn, Da-Niell Willemse, Luka King, Ullrich Drotschie, and NW Robertze – who played their last interschools match on Saturday.
Four grade nine players and six in grade 11 will return for next year’s campaign, which indicates that Boishaai is on the right track.
Looking ahead, the coach said: “The plan is not done, and the programme is in a good space.
“If I check, in this year’s interschools, we played 12 games, won eight, lost three, and drew one.
“Our 2nd XI had 10 grade 11s in it, and they won 2-0, so there’s so much depth.”
