To the SA Masters Hockey Community

Participate in the World Cup 2024 in New Zealand for R35 000!! *

*(if you are selected of course, and our plans work out)

We wish to deal very directly with the challenge of finding the financial resources necessary to participate in the WMH World Cup in New Zealand. When Pete Hill, the CFO of our WC 2024 Cape Town effort, recently informed me that many players, managers and coaches have made themselves unavailable for selection to our SA Masters representative sides by failing to register for the World Cup Trials scheduled for 8-9 August 2023 in Johannesburg due to a fear of not being able to pay for it, it gave me food for thought.

My first response was to mention to Pete that the trials were not only about the WC 2024, but also about participating in the SA Masters “Africa Masters Hockey Invitational” which will be held in November 2023 to coincide with the “Road to Paris” African Olympic Qualifier Tournament featuring both our Ladies and Mens National Teams. We are very excited about sharing the astro with our national teams in a determined effort to continue the process of building bridges within SA Hockey. Pete responded by saying that was great, but it still did not deal with the real issue of costs.

I responded to tell Pete and the rest of the LOC, that the SA Masters Executive has committed itself to pursue sponsorships and fundraising with the objective of limiting the cost of participation in the WMH WC in NZ to R35 000 per player. We have committed resources to the process and I believe that we have a better than average chance to get close to the stated objective. We believe that this will bring the WC within reach to most of our players. We cannot guarantee success but we can guarantee that we will work very hard to achieve the stated objective.

However, you have to be in the game to benefit from the above efforts and it means that you must register for trials and pay the registration fee. Don’t miss out on these fantastic opportunities.

We will be holding a virtual Q&A information session about the 2024 World Cups and the Africa Masters Hockey Invitational on 4 July 2023 at 17h30. Join on your computer, mobile app or room device. Click here to join the meeting.

For the love of the Game

Reg Marais

President: SA Masters

RELEVANT INFORMATION:

The Cape Town World Cup for O35/O40 M/W and O65 to O80M plus SoM will be from 12 to 21 October 2024, and 7 to 16 November 2024 for the O45/O50 M/W, O55M/O60M and O55 to O70W, plus SoM  categories in Auckland, New Zealand.

Coach and Manager positions

• Interested parties for both Men and Women’s team to please submit their application in writing to president@samastershockey.co.za or debbigates@woolworths.co.za.

Trial information

• Players must be affiliated to SAHA and have a SAHA membership number.
• Must have a valid South African passport or be a permanent resident of South Africa.
• To be eligible for selection, players will be required to attend the following:
  • WC trials, August 2023
  • SA Masters IPT, August 2023
  • Africa Masters Invitational Cup 2023
  • National Camp & Final World Cup Selection: February 2024
• All players will be required to register prior to trials and pay a once off registration levy of R500 to cover the costs of the trials.
• Participation in the WC squad fitness program and regional training sessions as set out by SA Masters once squads are announced.
• Must meet the age criteria as per FIH tournament rules below.
  • To be eligible to compete in any master’s competition, a player must be over the designated age limit on the 31 December of the year of the relevant competition or who will reach the designated age by/on 31 December 2024.
  • Players who are unable to comply with the selection requirements will have to apply in writing and request dispensation clearly stating the extenuating circumstances. Dispensation is not a guarantee for selection. The deadline for trial dispensation applications is 31July 2023 and must be sent to: president@samastershockey.co.za.

August trials: Age groups M35-60 and W35-65

• Trials will be held at St. Stithians College, Bryanston High School and Randburg Astro (ladies).
• Day 1: Tue 8 August, 13h00 to 16h00; Day 2: Wed 9 August, 09h00 to 12h00.
• Trial dates for M65 – 75 will be communicated at a later date.

Trial registration form

As mentioned above, all players will be required to register and pay a once off registration levy of R500 to be eligible for trials and selection. Click on link to enter https://forms.gle/7aJArXpUjSohioaK9.

• Trials are open to all players who meet the above criteria, notwithstanding the team or pool you play for at IPT. Registrations close – 31 July 2023
  • NAME:  South African Masters Hockey Association 
  • BANK:  FIRST NATIONAL BANK 
  • ACCOUNT: 62750268370 
  • BRANCH: 254605  
  • REFERENCE: Your name & surname