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Hockey Captain. In our popular series about sports captains, Schools That Rock today talks to Xoliswa Sithole. Xoliswa is the 1st Girls’ hockey team Captain of St Domininics Newcastle, KwaZulu Natal. Xoliswa today scores the fifteenth goal in our series this year on Hockey Captains from high schools in South Africa and Namibia.
“I started playing hockey at the age of seven years old. I like playing hockey because it is fun and an interesting sport. My older brother also played hockey. He had an extra hockey stick, so I took it and decided to try it out at school.
Eva de Goede
My favourite professional hockey player is Eva de Goede, Dutch professional hockey player. She has good sportsmanship and was a good leader. Eva also had so much control over the game and did it so well. She is also very calm and collected and made very critical plays.
The position I currently play, is CDM. I’ve played all the link positions as well as they are all the defence positions.
This year is the first year I’ve been selected Hockey Captain. In my opinion, the greatest task of the captain is making sure that everyone has a smile on their face. I also try to encourage them during training as well as during games.
The prowess or qualities I think a good hockey player should possess is discipline, modesty and being optimistic!
Whenever I set foot on the field, I don’t have to worry about anything else that’s going on. That’s my happy place and it inspires me to do my best.
Best and worst games
The game during my hockey career which has been the most fun, was the game we played against Volksrust in 2020. It was my first night game! My teammates at the time were very encouraging. I made amazing tackles, tackling people who were double my size. Although we lost the game, we played exceptionally well and we did ourselves, our coach and manager as well as our school proud. It was all smiles! The game against St Mary’s Kloof is the game I just want to forget soon. I nearly lost my finger during the game. My worst game would be the game against Nelspruit High School, last year. I learned that simplicity is vital as well as to stay composed throughout the entire game.
The way I handle pressure, is by taking a deep breath and analyse the game. I thereafter try to find the easiest way out.
As Hockey Captain, I motivate my team by the way I am playing – by the example I set.
My current top 5 priorities in life are as follows: God is my top priority, followed by myself, my family and friends, education and lastly hockey.
Advice for beginners
My advice for beginners in hockey is to believe in yourself and always stay committed!
I do plan to continue playing hockey after school on National level.
My single biggets highling in the last five years was getting my first academic scroll in 2021.
Hobbies I have besides hockey, is drawing.
My coach and team mates will describe me as a person who is very quiet. My rolemodel I look up to is Onthatile Zulu, South African National hockey player.
Should I have the priviledge of having coffe with a professional hockey player, it would be Jeroen Hertzberger. He is a Dutch field hockey player who plays as a forward for Rotterdam and the Dutch national team.
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https://www.curro.co.za/schools/st-dominics-newcastle-high-school
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