SHIFAAN RYKLIEF
The attack-minded link player was pivotal in the success of the women’s Peninsula side at the national tournament – where she scored three goals and set up a number of goals for her strikers.
WP sailed through to the final, beating teams convincingly with scores of 8-0, 7-0 and 5-1, to book their spot in the final of the six-day tournament against KZN.
“We beat KZN 2-1 in the final with Kaydee Miller and Robyn Pinder scoring the goals for us,” said Georgia.
“It was my first year in this women’s senior IPT team and I was happy to have made the Peninsula team. It was a really good tournament and I enjoyed it. My performances there have been my best so far,” she said.
Georgia is not new to the provincial setup. She first earned her WP colours in 2012 for the under-16 team, and followed that up by making the under-18 squad two years later.
“I had a good season last year and made the SA under-18 team. The SA team was announced following the IPT, in Durban, and we went on a three-day training camp. We also won that tournament and beat Southern Gauteng in the final.
“And, at school, I was awarded the Most Valuable Hockey Player for both indoor and outdoor hockey,” she said.
Following her national triumph, the Grade 12 pupil returned to the Mother City where she rejoined her Women’s Grand Challenge team at Constantiaberg Hockey Club. Georgia is in her fifth season with the club after her coach Ryan Pillay asked her to join. The star-studded Constantiaberg team got off to a dismal start this season, losing 2-0 to Western Province Cricket Club (WPCC) and 5-1 to league champions, Maties.
“This season we have a whole new squad, and the majority of the players are from the provincial women’s team. After we got back from the IPT, we beat Central 7-1, Victorians 6-1 and Pinelands 5-1,” said Georgia.
“I scored the second and the last goal in the match against Pinelands, at the weekend. I scored two against Vics and one against Central. We played well in all these games and are starting to gel better as a team now,” she said.
Constantiaberg have now worked their way up to third position on the log, and have scored the second most goals in the league – 25 goals. Georgia captains her school’s hockey team and is a sports prefect – who oversees all the captains from the various sport codes.
During summer, she does not lay down her hockey stick to rest and plays indoor hockey for her school.
“Last year I made the Cape Seals indoor hockey team, and we won the Pro Series Indoor (PSI) national tournament in Durban. I was awarded the Player of the Tournament award and was chosen as part of the SA indoor team,” she said.
In her final year of school, Georgia has her sights set on Stellenbosch University where she hopes to play for the Maties hockey team, and complete her a BSc in Human Biology.
At the weekend, Constantiaberg continued their winning run and beat UCT 1-0. They take on WPCC on Saturday May 28, at 4.30pm, at Bergvliet High School.
