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Nomads hockey extravaganza at Grey High

Ricky King
Grey High 2019 captain Ricky King goes on a run during last year’s Nomads Festival. Grey High will host the festival from March 20 to 23 in 2020, with 10 schools competing. Photo: Asante de Lange

There will be a feast of high-quality hockey when Grey High host the 13th Nomads Schools Festival at the Rectory astro in Port Elizabeth from March 20 to 23.

This annual sporting extravaganza will feature 10 of the country’s top-tier hockey schools, starting with two matches on the Friday evening and culminating in the final fixture between the hosts and Bishops at 12.30 on Monday.

The Nomads movement arose out of the former Ascension festivals (north and south) when a group of schools felt the need to create an event of a more national character.

In the mid-2000s there were a number of one-off festivals by schools celebrating special anniversaries – Grey College, Grey High and Selborne.

Attended by most of the top hockey-playing schools, these weeks produced an outstanding level of hockey, providing the catalyst to review the festival structure.

During the Selborne event in 2007 eight schools then discussed the creation of what became known as the Nomads Festival and this became a reality with the first tournament in 2008.

It was decided to hold U16 and U14 age-groups as well and each year three member schools would host one of the three festivals.??All Nomads festivals consist of either 10 or 12 teams, depending on the facilities available. The host school has the right to invite schools of their choice as guests to make up the full complement of teams.

The schools competing later this month are Grey High, Selborne, KES, St John’s, Wynberg, Jeppe, Grey College, Maritzburg College, Hilton and Bishops.

The fixtures for the festival are:

  • March 20, 17.00: Selborne v KES; 18.05: Grey High v St John’s
  • March 21, 08.30: Wynberg v Jeppe; 09.40: Grey College v Maritzburg; 10.50: Hilton v Bishops; 12.10: Selborne v St John’s; 13.20: Jeppe v Maritzburg; 14.30: Wynberg v Hilton; 15.50: Bishops v Grey College; 17.00: Grey High v KES
  • March 22, 07.30: Selborne v Hilton; 08.35: Maritzburg v Wynberg; 09.40: Grey High v Jeppe; 10.45: Bishops v St John’s; 11.50: Grey College v KES; 12.55: Selborne v Jeppe; 14.10: Wynberg v St John’s; 15.15: Grey High v Maritzburg; 16.20: Grey College v Hilton; 17.25: Bishops v KES
  • March 23, 08.00: Grey College v St John’s; 09.05: Jeppe v Hilton; 10.10: Wynberg v KES; 11.25: Selborne v Maritzburg College; 12.30: Grey High v Bishops
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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.