Introduced in 2023, the Belgotex Sport Coastal Cup has swiftly established itself as one of the country’s leading boys’ hockey festivals. It matches up favourably with the Nomads and Founders festivals, which will also be held over the coming weekend. The action, to be hosted at the Riverside Sports Club and Durban High School (DHS), starts on Friday, 27 March, and concludes on Monday, 1 April.
The Coastal Cup, apart from 1st XIs, also features u14 and u16 components, which not only present the younger players with opportunities to test their skills against teams they don’t often face, but also delivers inspiration by creating chances for them to watch their 1st XIs in action in a tournament setting.
The event was the brainchild of Westville Boys’ High Director of Hockey, Cam Mackay, Durban High School (DHS) Director of Hockey, Michael Baker, and Clifton College Director of Hockey, Keegan Pearce. Of that trio, only Mackay remains in the same position – Baker now heads up hockey at Paul Roos Gimnasium, and Pearce is in charge at Kearsney College – but Baker will be back in Durban, with Paul Roos contesting the event for the second time. Calvin Price leads Clifton’s hockey progamme, and Keegan Hezlett is in charge at DHS.
The opening day, Friday, 27 March, includes the “Baker Bowl” – Paul Roos vs DHS. Baker was the man who brought DHS hockey back from the dead, turning the weakest progamme in KZN into the province’s best, while PRG is one of the country’s pace-setters. An enthralling contest awaits.
Westville has had a challenging start to the season, and they face a tricky encounter against St Andrew’s School.
The Bloemfontein boys have made a strong start to the season. They claimed four wins from five outings, losing only to Grey High, at the Tony Godding Festival. The St Andrew’s victories included a convincing 3-1 defeat of Pearson, who defeated Saints’ Bloemfontein rivals, Grey College, 5-4 in a cracking clash. They also won three of four at the NWU Hockey Festival, drawing their other match 3-3 against the Pukke u21 team.
One of Westville’s early-season losses was a 0-2 defeat against Clifton College, who have been one of the most impressive KZN sides thus far. The return of Clifton’s captain Ryde Brisset, after a season spent on the sidelines following shoulder surgery, has been a huge boost for the Durban school. He was selected for the SA u17 side when an u16 player and competed in the Dato Mirnawan Cup in Malaysia in 2024. The quality that earned him national selection has been on show this season.
Another Clifton player who has represented SA in Malaysia in 2024, goalkeeper Georg Wolhuter, has been hugely influential early in the season, and he’s a huge asset for the Durban side.
They face an intriguing challenge in their opener, taking on Paarl Boys’ High. They were one of the most exciting stories of 2025, taking a huge leap forward and becoming one of the better sides in the very tough Western Cape.
Their season concluded with a win over their arch-rivals, Paarl Gimnasium, a team that finished as the runner-up to the unbeaten SACS at the Hibbert Shield, and which later held SACS to their only draw in South Africa of the season. Boishaai were unbeaten at the Coastal Cup in 2025, and they will have a similar goal in 2026.
If it’s improved teams that one is discussing, then Michaelhouse is another unit that exhibited strong growth last year.
In the 2025 event, they beat Garsfontein and St Alban’s and lost to Paul Roos, who went undefeated in Durban, in their last outing. Their other outing demonstrated the strong character of the squad: Michaelhouse fought back from a 1-3 deficit, scoring three times in the final chukka to pull off a stunning 4-3 victory over high-flying Parel Vallei (PV).
‘House opens against St Alban’s on Friday. They won 1-0 against the Pretoria school in 2025.
Garsies, semi-finalists for the past two seasons at the super-tough Hibbert Shield, open their challenge against PV. The Western Cape side again appears to be a formidable unit. At their pre-season festival, they beat Reddam House Constantia 3-0, Outeniqua 2-0, and Worcester Gimnasium 6-1. They followed that up with a 2-1 win over Bishops.
Bishops makes their Coastal Cup debut, taking on one of the regular participants, Menlo Park. The Capetonians endured a mixed season in 2025 after a strong 2024 campaign, which lost some momentum when coach Ryan Julius headed to Paris to represent South Africa at the Olympic Games.
They have a strong hockey pedigree, though, and will be eager to close the gap on SACS and Paul Roos, the leading teams in the Western Cape in recent seasons.
Menlo won’t be in action on Friday. Their campaign starts on Saturday, as does that of Glenwood. The Durban boys showed encouraging signs of improvement in 2025. Their goal will be to build upon that this season, with the Belgotex Coastal Cup offering an ideal opportunity for further growth.
FIXTURES
1st XI
Friday, 27 March
Riverside 1
16:00 – Westville vs St Andrew’s School
17:30 – DHS vs Paul Roos
19:00 – St Alban’s vs Michaelhouse
Riverside 2
16:00 – Menlopark vs Bishops
17:30 – Clifton vs Paarl Boys’ High
19:00 – Garsfontein vs Parel Vallei
Saturday, 28 March
Riverside 1
07:45 – Garsfontein vs St Andrew’s School
10:15 – St Alban’s vs Glenwood
11:45 – Clifton vs Menlopark
13:15 – Paul Roos vs Michaelhouse
14:45 – St Andrew’s School vs Bishops
16:15 – DHS vs Paarl Boys’ High
17:45 – Westville vs St Alban’s
19:15 – Glenwood vs Parel Vallei
Sunday, 29 March
Riverside 1
08:00 – Menlopark vs Glenwood
09:30 – Clifton vs Bishops
11:00 – Garsfontein vs Paarl Boys’ High
14:30 – St Andrew’s School vs Glenwood
16:00 – DHS vs Menlopark
17:30 – Westville vs Paul Roos
19:00 – Paarl Boys’ High vs Michaelhouse
Riverside 2
19:00 – Clifton vs Parel Vallei
Monday, 30 March
Riverside 1
08:00 – DHS vs Parel Vallei
09:30 – St Alban’s vs Paul Roos
11:00 – Westville vs Bishops
12:30 Garsfontein vs Michaelhouse
U16
Friday, 27 March
Riverside 1
14:30 – Westville vs Pearson
Riverside 2
14:30 – Clifton vs Paarl Boys’ High
Saturday, 28 March
Riverside 2
08:00 – Garsfontein vs Parel Vallei
09:00 – St Alban’s vs Michaelhouse
10:00 – DHS vs Paul Roos
11:00 – Menlopark vs Bishops
15:00 – DHS vs Paarl Boys’ High
16:00 – St Alban’s vs Glenwood
17:00 – Garsfontein vs Michaelhouse
18:00 – Clifton vs Menlopark
19:00 – Westville vs Paul Roos
Sunday, 29 March
Durban High School
09:00 – Pearson vs Bishops
10:00 – Glenwood vs Parel Vallei
11:00 – DHS vs Menlopark
12:00 – Garsfontein vs Paarl Boys’ High
13:00 – Westville vs St Alban’s
14:00 – Paul Roos vs Michaelhouse
15:00 – Clifton vs Bishops
16:00 – DHS vs Parel Vallei
17:00 – Menlopark vs Glenwood
18:00 – Garsfontein vs Pearson
Monday, 30 March
Riverside 2
08:00 – Pearson vs Glenwood
09:00 – Clifton vs Parel Vallei
10:00 – St Alban’s vs Paul Roos
11:00 – Westville vs Bishops
12:00 – Paarl Boys’ High vs Michaelhouse
U14
Riverside 1
09:15 – Paarl Boys’ High vs Michaelhouse
Riverside 2
12:00 – Westville vs Pearson
13:00 – St Alban’s vs Michaelhouse
14:00 – Glenwood vs Parel Vallei
Durban High School
08:00 – St Alban’s vs Glenwood
09:00 – Garsfontein vs Parel Vallei
10:00 – Clifton vs Menlopark
11:00 – DHS vs Paul Roos
15:00 – Menlopark vs Bishops
16:00 – Clifton vs Paarl Boys’ High
17:00 – Garsfontein vs Pearson
Sunday, 29 March
Riverside 1
12:30 – Paul Roos vs Michaelhouse
13:30 – Clifton vs Parel Vallei
Riverside 2
08:00 – Clifton vs Bishops
09:00 – Pearson vs Glenwood
10:00 – DHS vs Paarl Boys’ High
11:00 – Westville vs St Alban’s
14:00 – Menlopark vs Glenwood
15:00 – Garsfontein vs Paarl Boys’ High
16:00 – Pearson vs Bishops
17:00 – Westville vs Paul Roos
18:00 – DHS vs Parel Vallei
Monday, 30 March
Durban High School
08:00 – DHS vs Menlopark
09:00 – St Alban’s vs Paul Roos
10:00 – Garsfontein vs Michaelhouse
11:00 – Westville vs Bishops
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