Siphesihle Ntuli, the newly appointed mens national hockey team coach, is determined to turn the team from also-rans into medal contenders and to build on the teams showing at the Paris Olympics.
It promises to be a challenging year for the national team, which includes the prestigious Nations Cup and Africa Cup of Nations. The Afcon is of particular significance, as it serves as a qualifier for next years FIH Mens Hockey World Cup.
But it wont be a new challenge for Ntuli, who has been an integral part of the senior teams journey. The experienced former SA Under-21 coach has served on the coaching staff for both the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
We are working towards the World Cup, which is next year August in Belgium and Holland, he said. But we still need to qualify, so the immediate focus for the squad is qualifying through our continental tournament and that is in August this year. Thats the priority for 2025.
However, before that we have another tournament in June, which is the Nations Cup, which weve got a good history with. Its a new tournament that started two seasons ago. Weve won it once and we finished third. So were going to use that tournament as preparation for the African Nations Cup in August.