SA chase hockey Nations Cup glory but promotion question remains

Following a disappointing 2025 Hockey Nations Cup that saw South Africa winless and suffering relegation, they were not even supposed to participate in this year’s competition.

However, France, who were originally due to host the tournament, withdrew on short notice from hosting duties, according to Phikolomzi Mbuqe, chief executive of the South Africa Hockey Association (Saha).

This prompted the International Hockey Federation (FIH), the governing body of hockey, to approach South Africa to host, seeing as they have successfully hosted the tournament before.

It earned SA an automatic spot in the competition and provided vital preparation ahead of the World Cup in August. The tournament has been ongoing since 11 June at Hartleyvale Stadium in Cape Town.

“The FIH sees South Africa as one of those countries who has the potential to host major events,” Mbuqe said. “We were given the opportunity in 2022, and now we are cementing ourselves as Africa’s top destination for hockey.”

After a hard-fought group stage, the SA men’s hockey team responded to last year’s relegation by securing a place in the semifinals.

“There’s been a massive and energetic crowd and it’s nice preparation for the team towards the World Cup,” Mbuqe said.

Saha’s financial woes

Just as is the case with Sevens rugby, international competition for hockey is split into three tiers or divisions. The Nations Cup serves as the second-tier competition for mid-ranked international sides just outside the world’s top 10. Nations 2 is the third division for teams ranked 18th and below, in which the SA women participate.

The winner of the Nations Cup earns an invitation to be promoted to the Pro League, which is made up of the 10 best-ranked hockey nations in the world.

Aside from last year, the SA men’s side have enjoyed considerable success in the competition. They won the inaugural tournament in Potchefstroom in 2022, finished third the following season and have reached the semifinals this year.

Winning the inaugural Nations Cup against Ireland in 2022 should have marked a major breakthrough for the sport locally, as the SA team would have been promoted to the Pro League.

But Saha’s financial woes were spotlighted when the association had to decline the invitation to participate. It could not meet the minimum financial requirement by the FIH for entry into the Pro League, which amounted to approximately R10-million.

That means that any deep run at this year’s tournament inevitably raises questions about whether Saha would be in a position to accept promotion if SA were to win again.

“We have gone through a massive process of finding sponsors,” Mbuqe said. “We’ve been in negotiation with sponsors in terms of developing Saha and trying to get more people involved in hockey.

“It’s a difficult one to predict, [but] if we do win, it’s going to be a call from the executive board in terms of how we go forward. Because right now, we’ve got the World Cup coming up, so we’ve got that funding that we need to sort out.

“And then it’s going to be a decision we need to take.”

Building depth

The results for this edition of the Nations Cup have been mixed for the SA side. They opened their campaign with a disappointing 4-2 defeat to France after surrendering a 2-1 lead going into half time.

They then thrashed the United States with a 4-0 victory before securing a 3-3 draw against Ireland, progressing to the semifinals on goal difference. Right now, a tournament gold seems unlikely.

However, with the World Cup looming and the knowledge that Saha may not be able to financially support a run in the Pro League, Mbuqe said the tournament is serving another purpose, which is to test combinations, develop players and build squad depth.

The squad blends experienced players such as the Cassiem brothers, Nic Spooner, Andrew Hobson and Samkelo Mvimbi with emerging talent including Carlon Mentoor, Jamie Seale as well as debutantes Kenton Melville and Jared Cass.

“We know the Cassiem brothers are there, but we also need to start developing the new generations of players,” Mbuqe said. “They need to start playing at this high level to see where they are and to build a depth for the future of South Africa.”

Creating opportunities closer to home

With the likes of the Netherlands, Argentina, Australia and India in the Pro League, qualifying would be a positive step towards professionalisation of hockey in the country, Mbuqe said.

However, the long-term future of SA hockey depends on creating opportunities closer to home, particularly through a sustainable domestic professional league, he said.

Attempts have been made before when the Premier Hockey League was launched a decade ago. However, it failed to gain lasting traction, with the last edition played in 2019.

“At some point we need to find a way to create an enabling environment with a professional league that we can operate on a yearly basis,” Mbuqe said. “Where our players are compensated to participate and where we can create rivalry and high-performance competition among players.”

The SA men’s side may yet go on to win the Nations Cup for a second time. If they do, Saha’s leadership could once again face the dilemma that followed their 2022 triumph.

For now, however, they will face tough opposition from New Zealand in the semifinal on Saturday, 20 June at 7pm. DM