Underwater Hockey
European tour-
Underwater hockey report
The tour to Europe involved a South African touring team travelling
to Holland, Belgium and France.
 In
Holland we played in their National club tournament (Beker Toernooi).
In the tournament we played against the Belgium national team,
Doorecht (Dutch club), a Dutch masters team, Pontoi (a French club
team) and a Great Britain trials team. The end result in this
tournament was our team coming in 5th after losing to
Great Britain in the quarter finals.We then played quite a few
international games against the Dutch. We won some, lost and drew
some. They were definitely the hardest team we played on tour. We
were only in Belgium for one night and played games against Belgium
and again against the Dutch. We gave Belgium a good whipping (they
have only been playing internationally for 3 years) and then won 1
and lost 1 against the Dutch.On to France: We played 3 test matches
against the French. We surprised them in the 1st game and
came out blazing. We won the first match 5-3. The 2nd and
3rd games were a much tougher contest…but in the end they
both ended up in draws, 0-0 and 1-1 respectively.
This was an amazing tour to be part of, where friends were made and
the experience of playing with such great international players in
South Africa and abroad is something I will never forget. From this
tour a South African team has been chosen to represent the country
in the Cmas world championships in august this year in Slovenia. I
have been chosen in this side and will thus be receiving my
Springbok colours.On behalf of Scotty (Scott McNeill) and myself
(Malcolm Phillips), I would like to thank D.U.C for its ongoing
support and generous sponsorship.
Malcolm Phillips
South African Underwater Hockey Representative
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