Collegiate Girls’ High School and DSG Makhanda have set the benchmark for schoolgirls’ hockey in the Eastern Cape, with other teams occasionally challenging their supremacy.
The two powerhouses have performed consistently well, excelling inside and outside the region, and their clashes have dished up entertaining fare. Last year, DSG stamped their authority as the best in the province by beating Collegiate 4-1 in Gqeberha.
This year, Collegiate reversed that result, winning 5-1 in Makhanda after they had beaten their rivals 1-0 at the Belgotex Sport Girls Challenge in May in Cape Town.
This coming weekend, both have an opportunity to make history when they head to Bloemfontein for the annual Fairtree Super 12 Tournament at Oranje Meisieskool.
The prestigious tournament, which runs from Thursday to Sunday, pits 12 of the best sides in the country against one another.
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Neither side has won the tournament previously. Last year, DSG placed fourth while Collegiate finished seventh.
A lot has changed since then, though, and both outfits will fancy their chances of making waves in Bloemfontein.
It’s no secret that Collegiate enters the tournament as a strong title contender after another impressive season. Coach Michael Abrahams’ charges have played some outstanding hockey this year while coming up just short of winning silverware.
They made the quarterfinals at the St Mary’s Waverley Festival, missed out on making the final at the All Girls Festival, and went down 0-1 to Hoërskool Waterkloof in the final of the Girls Challenge.
Apart from those near misses, Collegiate has been ruthless in in-season derby matches.
Last week, they defeated one of the year’s standout teams, Oranje, 4-2 in Bloem before beating Eunice High School 3-1 the following day.
They head into the Super 12 with an experienced line-up. Only four players – Gabriella Da Doncker, Sophia Jansen, Lauren Duckworth, and Olivia Freercks – will be making their tournament debuts.
Meanwhile, the experienced Kate Brennan, Taryn Peltenburg, Kerrin Gillies, Jenna Coetzee, Jana Prinsloo, and Jade Grobler will play at the event for the third time.
Experience will be a key strength of the side, which is in Pool D, where they will face the KwaZulu-Natal duo of St Mary’s DSG Kloof and Our Lady of Fatima.
For DSG Makhanda, the 2026 season has been about growth, lessons, and building a new dynasty. Coach Geowynne Gamiet’s side has maintained the high standards established by those who came before them.
At last year’s Super 12, they performed superbly, narrowly missing out on a podium finish after going down to Rhenish Girls’ High in the third-place playoff.
They didn’t participate in the St Mary’s Waverley Festival. Instead, the girls from Makhanda won the Courage Cup at Kingsmead College, which automatically qualified them for the 2027 St Mary’s Festival.
Apart from that triumph, they’ve enjoyed a tremendous season, playing 32 matches and losing only six of them.
Those defeats came against high-quality opposition. DSG lost to Collegiate twice and was also beaten by Oranje, Rhenish, Paarl Gimnasium, and Reddam House Constantia, all of whom qualified for the Super 12.
Unlike the experienced Collegiate squad, DSG has 10 players making their Super 12 debuts: Julia MacKenzie, Christine Bowker, Chloe White, Gemma Dick, Anna Lyon, Abigail Meihuizen, Grace Kemp, Stef Warner, Emma Watson, and Zoe Painter.
Out of the 10, six are still in grade 10, while the other four are in grade 11.
While coach Gamiet will have high expectations of his youngsters, he will also heavily rely on his senior players to step up when it matters the most. Alexander Ovendale, Lucy Holderness, and Catherine Bowker are the most experienced players in the squad, along with Jasmine Apps, Ava van der Walt, and skipper Jess Galloway. If they are to challenge for the title, DSG will need their experienced players to lead the way.
They are drawn in Pool A with the hosts, Oranje, and Cape Town’s St Cyprian’s School.
The Eastern Cape duo has a realistic chance of going far in the tournament, but in a competition featuring the top 12 sides in the country, anything is possible.
Teams:
Collegiate Girls’ High
Gabriella Da Doncker, Sophia Jansen, Lauren Duckworth, Olivia Freercks, Kate Brennan, Taryn Peltenburg, Kerrin Gillies, Jenna Coetzee, Jana Prinsloo, Jade Grobler, Eden Oliver, Emihle Mazomba, Ayanda Klass, Salome-Rose Oosthuizen.
DSG Makhanda
Alexander Ovendale, Lucy Holderness, Catherine Bowker, Julia MacKenzie, Christine Bowker, Chloe White, Gemma Dick, Anna Lyon, Abigail Meihuizen, Grace Kemp, Stef Warner, Emma Watson, Zoe Painter, Jasmine Apps, Ava van der Walt, Jess Galloway.
