Mustapha bags award to highlight strong SA indoor display, but now what?

Mustapha Cassiem, on the attack against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals at the Indoor Hockey World Cup at the Heartfelt Arena in Pretoria, was fifth on the goal-scoring list and was named best men's junior player of the tournament. SA were eliminated by Holland, the eventual runners-up, but finished sixth overall, their highest position to date.
Image: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images

Mustapha Cassiem was named the top junior male of the Indoor Hockey World Cup this weekend, capping a tournament where the South African men’s and women’s teams delivered the country’s best results.

The women had never finished higher than ninth and the men 10th, but they shone on home soil to end fourth and sixth respectively.

The question now is how to get them to the next level, though it’s become an increasingly common refrain for a marginal sport that has punched above its weight at times.

The women’s field team that finished fourth at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the men’s side that took fourth at Birmingham 2022 both looked to step up at global outdoor competitions like the Olympics and World Cup, and both were unable to convert those ambitions.

At the end of the tournament on Saturday night sport minister Nathi Mthethwa met the national men’s and women’s players, dishing out handshakes, smiles and words, but they need more than that.

If ever there’s a time to invest in SA hockey it’s now, especially with the young talent coming through.

Cassiem, also the best junior male at the outdoor World Cup in India last month, was fifth on the goalscorer list with 14 — more than half of SA’s 26 goals and placing him fifth overall, just three behind Michael Körper, star of the champion Austrians. 

Some teammates rate Cassiem, contracted to German club Gladbacher HTC, the greatest competitor they’ve played with or against, and even former goal ace Greg Nicol, the New Zealand men’s national outdoor coach whose 245 goals remains an SA record, has high regard for the 20-year-old.

“Great player, big future,” Nicol told TimesLIVE. “Great balance on the ball, good vision and variation between pass and dribble. A real threat against any opposition. Would make most international teams.

“If SA have more players like him coming through the ranks the future is bright. I think he can be a dominant player for several years if he looks after himself and does not burn out as he does play a lot of hockey.”

Edith Molikoe, the 22-year-old striker in the women’s team who is also likely to be around for along time, dreams about winning the World Cup one day.

But she believes the South African system needs to be centralised. She is based at the University of Pretoria, outdoor men’s coach Giles Bonnet is in Cape Town and getting the team together is an issue.

“We have camp for three weeks or so and then you're flying in and out,” she said, adding that players often had to contribute out their own pockets.

The SA women’s indoor side has Spar as a sponsor, and the retail chain’s liquor franchise Tops back the men’s team.

The Czech Republic side that beat the SA women in the bronze medal playoff are sponsored by Maserati and Deloitte.

Money helps, but it’s not the only factor.

The Dutch women’s side, who dominated all their teams and beat Austria 7-0 in the final, are not professional, said Donja Zwinkels, the women’s player of the tournament and the top-scorer with 17 goals.

“We started training on Monday and Tuesday and sometimes three times in a week,” she said of their preparation in Holland, which began in November, two weeks before the European championships where they ended second.

“I was the one who lives the furthest to the south and they're all living in Amsterdam and in Utrecht. So for me, it was the longest travel — it was like one-and-a-half hours..”

Their coach, Kristiaan Timman, pointed out they got to play frequently against top nations like Germany and Belgium.    

It’s probably no coincidence that European teams have dominated the world outdoor scene, with men’s teams winning 12 of 18 medals this millennium and women’s sides nine out of 18. In the six editions of the Indoor World Cup European men have won 16 of the 18 medals and the women sides have won them all.

The SA team needed to spend more time together, said captain Jess O’ Connor. “We have to have more funding for that ... being allowed to play together more, travelling abroad more, competing with the European teams.

“They play in the Euros, they play a lot more indoor than we do. We battle to get proper games going.”

SA men’s captain Jethro Eustice agreed. “I don't think we'll get opportunity to play European nations that often.

“With Argentina being competitive, Australia looking good and Namibia [eighth] down the road, I think that's a great opportunity to start there [and] see if we can get more Test matches.

“If you look at the ladies’ set-up, they’ve played a lot more Test matches than us ... Maybe that’s what we need to do but yeah, we’ve got the talent.”

Exceptional talent like Mustapha Cassiem, his brother Dayaan, Molikoe. The list goes on.

Timman sees huge potential. 

“If you see all the kids who are sitting here in the stands,” the Dutch coach said, referring to the vocal young fans at the Heartfelt Arena. “They just need to play and play and play and play.

“And if you see the Cassiem brothers who are developing, that's also possible for little kids to see them as role models. And it's just spending a lot of hours on the indoor pitch to get better and better.”