Month: March 2017

Northwood is proud to announce the appointment of former player, Sharks coach, and assistant coach to the Springboks, Dick Muir, as our new Director of Rugby. He will officially begin his new position at the start of the 2^nd term on 18 April as he takes over the reins from Grant Bashford, who is embarking on a new coaching venture in Japan.  Since finishing with the Springboks in 2011, Dick took on the role of Managing Director of the Investec International Rugby Academy which has kept him at the forefront of international coaching trends and cutting edge knowledge of the game. In 2016 an opportunity arose for him to assist with Northwood Crusaders Rugby, which he says once again ignited his interest in coaching. This interest at grass roots level has now come to fruition with his new appointment at Northwood – and compliments his ongoing role as Director of Northwood Crusaders Rugby Club.  On taking over from his counterpart Grant Bashford, he says has been fascinated with the difference and passion that Grant has brought to rugby at Northwood, and looks forward to the season ahead and taking Northwood into 2017 and beyond.

The 1^st XI hockey took on Kearsney on Saturday. With both teams consisting of a lot of talent, the match was always set to be an exhilarating one. Both teams started at an electric pace but it was Kearsney who drew first blood early in the match with a blistering backhand shot from Captain Luke de Vlieg which left the Northwood players and faithful’s stunned. After the initial nerves settled, it was Northwood that began to build some ascendency towards the half way break with several penalty corners and a save on the line from the Kearsney defender after Cade Leaity rounded the Kearsney keeper, however the half way mark saw Kearsney maintain their 1-0 lead. The second half was where the game came alive.  Northwood changed a few things tactically at half time and the Kearsney defence slowly began to falter. Eventually a well-worked routine from another penalty corner saw Slater Capell get onto the score-sheet with a deflection, this sparked some energy and belief and 5 minutes later Northwood took a 2-1 lead from Tyrone Stanley’s goalmouth scrambled finish. Northwood looked set for the win with merely 6 minutes of match time left after scoring their second, however Kearsney responded well and began a fight back and with some sustained pressure forced 2 more goals of their own in 2 minutes through Ben Proctor and Steven Conway. The see-saw was not over there, and the resilience of the Northwood team showed as for the last 4 minutes of the match they played with 5 strikers and only 2 defenders to push for an equaliser. An excellent turnover deep in the Kearsney half and a great counter from Northwood saw them rewarded with a foul in the D and a penalty corner on full time. The moment of truth lay on the shoulders of Captain Ross Venning-Pridham to square the game up, in front of a massive crowd who was dead-silent in anticipation, from Northwood spectators hoping for a goal to Kearsney supporters hoping for the win. The injection came and after a breakdown, a re-award unfolded and all had to watch in anticipation again. Out came the second injection, a good stop and an even better flick from Ross, under immense pressure he rose above the occasion and squared the match up 3-3!

An excellent game for all involved and all who witnessed it. The rest of the block against Kearsney was good, there were 13 matches played, 6 wins, 4 draws and only 3 losses across the board.

Match Report Courtesy of Mr Baker

Director of Hockey

Photo Images courtesy of Northwood Press Club

 

The KZN Youth Wind Band, under the baton of Northwood’s Russell Scott returned victorious with a Gold Award from the New York Wind Band Festival last week. The KZNYWB, featuring 2 Northwood learners – Julian Gaul and Mitchel Kruger, and two Old Boys – Chayce Tyne and Sphe Zungu – were unanimously awarded the top honour by 3 professional judges, well respected in the musical scene in New York.

Performing in the iconic Carnegie Hall was an amazing experience not to be forgotten by the young musicians from the KZNWYB.

The band’s energy and enthusiasm shone through in every performance and especially in the rehearsal exchanges where the KZNYWB was able to showcase the warmth and joy of African Music and Culture.

Besides the performance obligations, the KZNYWB members also found the time to take in some of the sights in a very cold and snowy New York City.

Northwood is once again proud to host a FNB Classic Clash vs Kearsney which will be televised live from Northwood by SuperSport this Saturday.

Rugby and hockey fixtures will take place throughout the day, with our  1st team hockey match starting at 10:30am and our 1^st team rugby kicking off at 2pm.

Our Northwood Parent Group (NPG) will be hard at work (and up early!) selling bacon and wors rolls, as well as soft-drinks and cuppachinos’s with a sweet treat. We ask our parents and visitors to please support this school fundraising initiative which will be found on both upper campus in the grade 11 quad and on the lower campus next to the astro.

Parking will be available at our Mackeurtan Road entrance on the lower campus field at a cost of R20 per car.

Hospitality Tea and coffee will be served from 9:30am to 11am.

We look forward to hosting a fun and competitive day of sport as we welcome Kearsney, our community, Northwood friends and family to our beautiful school.

The Northwood 1^st XI opened their season with a clinical display of mature, passing hockey against DHS on Saturday. The first 15 minutes DHS applied several waves of sustained pressure, however the Northwood defence maintained their composure and discipline to keep the ball moving away from the pressure points. Once the Northwood boys found the back of the net after a well-executed drag flick from captain Ross Venning-Pridham, the DHS team’s defence seem to fracture and more opportunities presented themselves. Slater Capell finished off a short corner move that left the ball in the top left hand corner, he then followed that with a crashing reverse stick finish and Jordan Edy tapped a ball in at far post on his debut to leave the hosts 4-0 down at the half.

The second half followed similar fashion with the Northwood boys enjoying all the possession, territory and chances. Ross Venning-Pridham was deadly from top D, scoring another two drag flicks, Slater Capell sent another reverse stick shot past the hapless DHS keeper to get his hat trick along with Ross’ and to end off the scoring. Cade Leaity rounded the DHS keeper on a 1v1 to walk the ball over the line to complete a superb performance and 8-0 win.

In the other matches, Northwood were brutal in all the games. In summary, played 6, won 6, 50 goals for and 0 against. This weekend will be a different approach against Kearsney on Saturday but the intensity and work rate will remain the same.

Report Courtesy of Mr Baker, Northwood Director of Hockey

Photo Courtesy of Mr Gow, picturing 1st XI player Tyronne Laaks