Winning tournaments is not the only thing that matters to the Tuks hockey coaches they are equally committed to helping South Africa's national sides succeed at an international level.
Inky Zondi (Tuks women's coach) and Sigz Ntuli (Tuks men's coach) seem to be succeeding in doing so. Sixteen current and former Tuks players form part of the Olympic training squads.
Peabo Lembethe who captained his team to win the men's Varsity Hockey Tournament last year is quick to point out it is at Tuks where his playing skills got honed to such an extent that he was selected for the Proteas.
Phumi Mbande, with 48 caps to her name playing goalkeeper for the women's national side, is on record saying that through playing hockey her life changed for the better. Apparently, Tuks played a big part in all of it.
Basically, each of the Tuks players who are now part of the national setup has got similar stories to tell. The one constant being that Tuks's hockey coaches will never allow any player to rest on their laurels. It is expected to be critical of one's on-field shortcomings and to find ways as to how to improve.
"It is a challenge trying to be better each time you take to the field. My skills are not yet what it should be. One of the shortcomings I still need to work on is my dribbling. I also need to become a better striker of the ball," explains Lembethe.
According to his coaches at Tuks Lembethe's best qualities playing as a midfielder is without a doubt his unbelievable work rate and an ever sense of what is happening on the field. He is possibly one of the best distributors never passing the ball only for the sake of doing so. It seems as if he has a plan with each pass.
According to Mbande playing, as a goalkeeper can be quite a challenge as there is never really any margin for error.
"My game has developed quite a bit from since I have played Varsity hockey. I am not the most technical goalkeeper because that is not how I was trained. At first, I mostly relied on winging things. The reality, however, is that you can only get away with it for so long.
"My focus now is to improve my technical skills, like diving and sliding. I am continually studying plays from short corners, trying to hone my skills. There seems to be always something you can do differently."
One of Mbande's most special memories this season is the role she played in helping the Northerns women's hockey team regain the provincial title. The team managed to beat South Gauteng in the final in a shootout. Mbande was chosen as the goalkeeper of the tournament.
The Tuks players and former players in the Olympic men's training squad are Estiaan Kriek, Matthew Guise-Brown, Peabo Lembethe, Richard Pautz, Tevin Kok, Jared Cass, Sam Mvimbi, Bradley Sherwood. The women are Dirkie Chamberlain, Lilian du Plessis, Marizen Marais, Phumi Mbande, Mmatshepi Modipane, Marlise van Tonder, Marguerite van Wyk, Izelle Verster and Onthatile Zulu.
Zondi and Ntuli are respectively the assistant coaches to the women's and men's Olympic squads.
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