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- This month, South Africa will host the prestigious FIH Hockey Pro League at NWU Hockey Astro in Potchefstroom.
- Garreth Ewing's side has temporarily joined this year's Pro League as they look to make every result count ahead of July's Commonwealth Games.
- Ewing stated that his side wants to create a few upsets as they compete against four countries from 8-21 February.
The South African men's hockey side make history on Tuesday as they host and compete in their first FIH Hockey Pro League tournament at the North West University Hockey Astro.
South Africa, whose participation is limited to this edition only, will host the Netherlands, India, Germany and France in a bio-secure bubble in Potchefstroom.
This gives coach Garreth Ewing the perfect build-up to July's Commonwealth Games and next year's FIH Hockey World Cup.
Last month, South Africa clinched the African Cup of Nations in Accra after defeating Egypt in the final as they also sealed their spot in the 2023 Hockey World Cup in India.
South Africa, who are now 10th in the world rankings, hopes to build on their AFCON win as they compete against the world's best in the North West.
"A World Cup qualifier is a unique event and it brings its own pressures and playing against Africa is different than playing against the elite teams in the world," Ewing told reporters in a press conference on Monday.
"I don't think it's an advantage to us aside from being together for a while and getting the opportunity to play together. I think this will be a whole situation for us."
At last year's Tokyo Olympics, the SA men's side stunned Germany with a 4-3 win and then drew Canada 4-4 as they finished second-last in their group and failed to qualify for the semi-final in Tokyo.
This time around, South Africa will again face Germany, hoping to avenge their Tokyo defeat. Meanwhile, Olympic bronze medallist India will look to keep their unbeaten streak against South Africa intact.
"I think we can absolutely create some upsets," said Ewing on South Africa's chances.
"However, our priority is to grow the team and develop towards the Commonwealth Games and the World Cup. So every result that comes our way will be a bonus as far as I'm concerned."
Fellow Olympian Keenan Horne will take over the captaincy armband for South Africa and says that they'll be hoping to play more consistently in the South African leg of the Hockey Pro League.
"These top teams play hockey in all sorts of conditions around the world so they're used to that adjustment, but if it is an advantage, we'll take anything we can get," said Horne.
"As a competitive player, you always want to win all the games, it's better when you play the top eight nations.
"It's not always that we get to play these teams and we only play them in tough competitions. The challenge is, yes, we've built that belief, but now we have to do it consistently and the Pro League gives us that opportunity.
"With Covid-19, we were starved of a lot of hockey prior to the Olympics. Now there is a good chance to get some exposure to build our squad and get consistency as a team. We will play every single game with an aim to win."
Due to the ongoing pandemic, local fans will not be able to watch the action live, but South African Hockey Association (SAHA) confirmed that SuperSport would broadcast live all the Hockey Pro League games from Potchefstroom.
Despite the withdrawal from Canada, New Zealand and Australia, all four participating teams - SA, Netherlands, France and Germany - have tested negative upon arriving at the NWU bubble.
SAHA CEO Marissa Langeni says that Covid-19 tests will be taken throughout the tournament, with players urged to avoid leaving their bubble this month.
"It's a wonderful opportunity for South Africa to join this season of the Pro League. We've encouraged the team to maintain strong bubbles to avoid being outside of their hotels and/or guest houses as well as the venue itself," said Langeni.
"It's a priority for us that we can deliver a very safe tournament. We're also aware that teams need to travel back home and in order to do that, they'd be able to return a negative test when they head home.
"At this stage, we're comfortable over the mitigation strategies we've put in place. One of those is that we'll regrettably have no spectators in the venue, but it was necessary to ensure that we can deliver a safe tournament."
South Africa will get their Pro League campaign under way on Tuesday as they face the Netherlands at 20:00.
South Africa Pro League squad:
Siya Nolutshungu, Peabo Lembethe, Gowan Jones, Owen Mvimbi, Estiaan Kriek, Matt De Sousa, Daniel Bell, Matthew Brown, Jethro Eustice, Sihle Ngubane, Tyson Dlungwana, Ryan Julius, Connor Beauchamp, Keenan Horne, Le-Neal Jackson, Ignatius Malgraff, Clayton Saker, Bili Ntuli, Taine Paton, Dayaan Cassiem, Nic Spooner, Mustapha Cassiem, Richard Pautz, Bradley Sherwood
South Africa's FIH Hockey Pro League fixtures in Potch:
Tuesday, 8 February - SA v Netherlands (20:00)
Wednesday, 9 February - SA v India (18:00)
Saturday, 12 February - SA v Netherlands (20:00)
Sunday, 13 February - SA v India (18:00)
Tuesday, 15 February - SA v France (20:00)
Thursday, 17 February - SA v Germany (20:00)
Sunday, 20 February - SA v France (20:00)
Monday, 21 February - SA v Germany (20:00)
