The men’s tournament was held  in Port Elizabeth from 22 to 28 April 2012. The all-Tuks Northerns team beat the Free State in the final to clinch the title of IPT winners. It was the first time in six years that Northerns were able to secure the IPT title. TuksHockey’s technical director, Craig Fulton, coached the Northerns squad to victory and Tuks player Matthew Guise-Brown received the Golden Boot award as top goalscorer for the tournament. And would you believe it! Six of the players in the squad are current SA u/21 junior players.

 

The women’s tournament took place concurrently in Pretoria. Although the Northerns ladies’ team performed well, they failed to book a place in the semi-final playoffs. However, individual players stood out: Tuks player Jacinta Jubb received the Golden Boot award and Tuks 1 goalkeeper, Phumelela Mbande, received the Goalkeeper and Save of the Tournament awards.

TuksHockey administrator Linda Dlamini, who is also the Operational Manager of the Investec SA Women’s Hockey Team, acted as manager for Northerns. At the close of the women’s tournament the SA u/21 squad was announced, with four Tuks players selected after stand-out weeks. They are Phumelela Mbande, Hlubi Sipamla, Lillian du Plessis and Jacinta Jubb.

 

It seems that TuksHockey has high standards to live up to throughout the rest of the year.

Congratulations toall the Tuks players and coaching staff on the impressive results so far.