27 March 2025
The 2025 Belgotex Sport Coastal Cup offers an intriguing and mouthwatering collection of top hockey schools in action over the course of four days at the Riverside Sports Club and Durban High School from Friday, 28 March, to Monday, 31 March.
Younger than the Nomads Festival and the Founders Festival, this year the Coastal Cup has, arguably, brought together the toughest collection of the 1st teams.
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One of the reasons for that is the inclusion of Paul Roos Gimnasium, and that’s no accident. That’s where Michael Baker is the Director of Hockey and 1st team coach. He, when he was in charge of hockey at Durban High School (DHS), together with Cam Mackay, of Westville Boys’ High, and Keegan Pearce, then of Clifton, now of Kearsney, founded the festival in 2023. It has rapidly established itself as one of South Africa’s premier boys’ festivals.
The three founding schools have been ever-present since the event began, together with St Alban’s College, Garsfontein, and Menlopark, from Gauteng, Pearson, from the Eastern Cape, and Paarl Boys’ High, from the Western Cape.
Glenwood, too, has been part of every Coastal Cup. It’s no secret that the boys from the south of Durban have been through a couple of tough seasons. It’s also true that they’ve undoubtedly been improving over the past two years and a 2-0 win over St Charles College recently was cause for optimism. It will be interesting to see their growth since last season when measured against the top schools that await the Green Machine at the Coastal Cup.
This year, Michaelhouse makes its bow. ‘House’s hockey is on the up, too. They’re coached by Nick Bérichon, who was formerly in charge of Garsfontein, so the Berichon Bowl on Saturday afternoon between the two schools will be must-see fare.
There will also be a Baker Bowl on Saturday evening, when DHS takes on Paul Roos. With both schools being among the best in their regions, and countrywide, in recent years, it will, no doubt, be a cracking contest.
The other newcomer is Parel Vallei, from Somerset West, and they bear watching. Their lineup includes three players who received their national colours in 2024 – Luka Meets, Luca Jordaan, and Stephan Malan – and they’ve lost only four players from last year’s team.
They’ve put together some strong performances in pre-season festivals, but it was more recently that they showed just how dangerous they could be when they handed Bishops a 7-2 hiding.
Clifton College, like Parel Vallei, has an experienced side, and they’ll be playing on their home turf. They’re coached by Calvin Price, who has extracted some exciting hockey out of the team over the past two seasons.
They’re well led by captain Zach Williamson and his deputy, Jason Adams, and they have, in goalkeeper Georg Wolhuter, an outstanding last line of defence. It’s a pity that their SA u17 star Ryde Brissett is out for the season, but he has been doing his bit on the sidelines and contributing as much as he can to the team.
While Michaelhouse shone in a 5-4 victory over Northwood – they led 5-2 until late in the game – they came up short against DHS in their most recent outing, with School claiming a convincing 4-1 victory. Under Keegan Hezlett, who was part of the South African team that won bronze at the Men’s FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup in January, they remain an energetic, skilful unit.
Garsfontein, who reached the semi-finals against a stacked field at the Hibbert Cup last year, have been a premier side for a while now, and the other challengers from Pretoria, Menlopark and St Alban’s College, are sure to offer up stiff challenges.
Last year, Garsfontein took down a Westville Boys’ High team that had been unbeaten through the first two days of the Coastal Cup, while Menlopark beat Clifton.
Speaking of Westville, they’re in a bit of a rebuilding phase, but they have a canny coach in Cam Mackay, who was an assistant coach for the bronze medal-winning team at the FIH Indoor World Cup. They’ve made a stuttering start to the season, but their challenges appear to more about experience and confidence than talent. It is truly incredible the steps that a side can take over four days of festival hockey, so don’t sleep on the Griffin.
Pearson is one of the Eastern Cape’s best teams, not just this year. That’s been the case for many years now. They’re now coached by Karl Lavender, with Dallan Phillips having moved from the Gqeberha school to take over the reins at Grey College.
Recently, at the Tony Godding Festival, Pearson went down to Grey College, losing 2-4, but their results included a comfortable 3-0 win over St Andrew’s School, who, in turn, beat Selborne College 3-2.
What stands out about the teams competing in the Belgotex Coastal Cup is the remarkable talent in their coaching ranks. St Alban’s, mentioned above, features SA u21 men’s hockey coach, Guy Elliott, for example. To go back to the beginning, Michael Baker has led both DHS and Paul Roos to second place in the country. And we’ve mentioned some of the others’ achievements already.
The coaching is superb and that’s one of the main reasons why the 2025 Coastal Cup is so intriguing.
Besides the 1st teams, action also takes place in the u16 and u14 age groups. If you can’t make it to the games, SuperSport Schools is your friend. Don’t miss out!
1ST TEAM FIXTURES
Friday, 28 March
Riverside 1
15:00 – Michaelhouse vs Parel Vallei
16:30 – Clifton vs Paarl Boys’ High
18:00 – Westville vs Paul Roos
Riverside 2
15:00 – Garsfontein vs Glenwood
16:30 – Pearson vs Menlopark
18:00 – DHS vs St Alban’s
Saturday, 29 March
Riverside 1
09:30 – St Alban’s vs Paul Roos
11:00 – Clifton vs Pearson
12:30 – Garsfontein vs Michaelhouse
14:00 – Paarl Boys vs Glenwood
15:30 – Menlopark vs Parel Vallei
17:00 – Westville vs St Alban’s
18:30 – DHS vs Paul Roos
Riverside 2
18:30 – Clifton vs Garsfontein
Sunday, 30 March
09:30 – DHS vs Menlopark
11:00 – St Alban’s vs Michaelhouse
12:30 – Westville vs Pearson
14:00 – Garsfontein vs Parel Vallei
15:30 – Menlopark vs Glenwood
17:00 – DHS vs Paarl Boys
18:30 – Paul Roos vs Michaelhouse
Monday, 31 March
08:00 – Pearson vs Glenwood
09:30 – Clifton vs Parel Vallei
11:00 – Westville vs Paarl Boys
U16 FIXTURES
Saturday 29 March
Riverside 1
08:00 – Westville vs Paul Roos
Riverside 2
08:00 – Clifton vs Paarl Boys
09:00 – DHS vs St Alban’s
10:00 – Pearson vs Menlopark
11:00 – Garsfontein vs Glenwood
12:00 – Michaelhouse vs Parel Vallei
13:00 – Westville vs St Alban’s
14:00 – Clifton vs Pearson
15:00 – DHS vs Paul Roos
16:00 – Garsfontein vs Michaelhouse
17:00 – Menlopark vs Parel Vallei
Sunday, 30 March
Durban High School
09:00 – DHS vs Paarl Boys
10:00 – Menlopark vs Glenwood
11:00 – Paul Roos vs Michaelhouse
12:00 – Clifton vs Garsfontein
13:00 – Westville vs Pearson
14:00 – DHS vs Menlopark
15:00 – St Alban’s vs Michaelhouse
16:00 – Garsfontein vs Parel Vallei
17:00 – Paarl Boys vs Glenwood
Monday, 31 March
Riverside 2
08:00 – Clifton vs Parel Vallei
09:00 – Westville vs Paarl Boys
10:00 – Pearson vs Glenwood
11:00 – St Alban’s vs Paul Roos
U14 FIXTURES
Durban High School
Saturday, 29 March
08:00 – Clifton vs Paarl Boys
09:00 – Michaelhouse vs Parel Vallei
10:00 – Garsfontein vs Glenwood
11:00 – Westville vs Paul Roos
12:00 – DHS vs St Alban’s
13:00 – Menlopark vs Parel Vallei
14:00 – Paarl Boys vs Glenwood
15:00 – Garsfontein vs Michaelhouse
16:00 – Clifton vs Pearson
17:00 – DHS vs Menlopark
Sunday, 30 March
Riverside 1
08:00 – St Alban’s vs Michaelhouse
Riverside 2
08:00 – DHS vs Paul Roos
09:00 – Clifton vs Parel Vallei
10:00 – Westville vs Pearson
11:00 – Menlopark vs Glenwood
12:00 – DHS vs Paarl Boys
13:00 – Garsfontein vs Parel Vallei
14:00 – Paul Roos vs Michaelhouse
15:00 – Westville vs St Alban’s
16:00 – Pearson vs Menlopark
17:00 – Clifton vs Garsfontein
Monday, 31 March
Durban High School
08:00 – Westville vs Paarl Boys
09:00 – Pearson vs Glenwood
10:00 – St Alban’s vs Paul Roos
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