Day 1 of the Belgotex Sport Fairmont Hockey Tournament

Belgotex Sport Fairmont Hockey Tournament off to a fantastic start

As much as things change, they stay the same. The 2021 Belgotex Sport Fairmont Hockey Tournament may be in a different time slot this year, it may have slightly less teams due to the ongoing corona virus pandemic. However, the tournament still promises so much of the same quality, experience and vibe as we slowly build up to a returned normality. 

In the 2021 tournament five boys’ teams and six girl’s teams would take on the Belgotex Sport Arena in a quest for domination on the fields of Fairmont. The tournament offers initiatives that few others can rival with a video referral system in place (As it was in 2019), goal posts that light up, tracking of results via the Sportivo App and of course live streaming, with a fantastic commentary team on the Supersport Schools App as well as on the ES Media YouTube page.

Another initiative this year is that Princess have come on board and every game a player of the match will receive a pink / black pair of Princess socks that they will play in for the next game, much alike the Varsity Cup player that rocks, it’s the Princess play that perfected performance on the day. 

Headmaster of Fairmont High School was effervescent in his welcome for the teams:

“Welcome to our visiting schools, players and staff. I am delighted that we can host our annual Hockey Tournament again this year after we had to cancel last years tournament. Our hockey staff led by Mr Robert Goslett and Mrs Elsabe van Zyl must be commended for their tireless efforts to ensure our players could play some hockey this year. This tournament is a fitting end to the season. 

I have no doubt that all schools here for the tournament have also tried to bring some form of normality back to their players and I want to thank them for it. Afterall all of us focus on the players and giving them the opportunities. Enjoy the contest, the rivalries but remember the main objective is to enjoy the sport you love!”

And if day one was anything to go by, that’s exactly what the players did. Enjoyed the sport they loved. 

An exceptional day at the Belgotex Elite Fairmont Hockey. The girl’s tournament saw some great performances throughout the day with Fairmont High School and Somerset College took the opportunity to make a statement and place a marker for all teams to take not of. 

Both the attacking flair and defensive resolution from the two sides were the defining moments that set up a potential cracker when the two-meet tomorrow afternoon in what will be a tightly contested match. 

All the stats and logs are available on the Sportivo app, available on iOS and Android and will show you that Fairmont sit at the top of the table currently, while Lauren Venter (Somerset College) and Meleah Smith (Fairmont) sit atop the standings in the goalscoring race with 4 goals each on day one. 

The undoubted game of the day was the boys tussle between Somerset College and York High School. Somerset College took a one goal lead through Ben Chaplin in the 22nd minute. The goal was a crisp reminder of the South African performance at the Tokyo Olympics as they produced a beautiful goal-to-goal counter and finished off. They held onto this lead until half time and looked hardly tested.  

York fought back gainfully in the second half and equalised through an absolute rocket from Sean Slater. It was the type of goal that left the net bulging in a way that only a striker can truly enjoy. 

With less than three minutes on the clock and both teams seemingly settling for a draw, Liam Bayer produced an individual moment of quality that left the team staff cheering and the York defence heart broken. What a sublime finish from a player that was the standout performer on the day. 

Elsewhere Fairmont laid down a marker in a dismantling victory while York had earlier got three points of their own in a solid victory over Edgemead.

If day one was anything to go by, the quality, the energy, the excitement and the action will bring the magic to even greater levels on a screen near you on day 2. Of course, you can rewatch all the games from day 1 on the ES Media YouTube page and check in on the Sportivo App.  

The Belgotex Fairmont Hockey Tournament, in conjunction with Livingstone Baths, is here and its nothing short of epic.