RUFUS BOTHA
It is not often that you find two sisters representing the Free State hockey team simultaneously at an IPT (Inter Provincial Tournament). The two well-known hockey sisters from Bloemfontein, Shevaun and Casey-Jean Botha scored this distinction and are currently in action at the woman's IPT in Potchefstroom.
Shevaun (21), was only 16 years old when she first represented the senior woman team five years ago and it seems as if Casey-Jean, a Grade 11 pupil at Eunice, has decided "what Shevaun can do, I can do as well".
If you take a look at the statistics of these two gifted sisters, their hockey fairy tale seems to be written in stereo.
Shevaun started playing for the strong Eunice first team when she was only in Grade 8 and was a stalwart for the team until matric (five years on the trot). She also represented Free State from 2010 to 2013, but missed out in 2014 due to a knee operation.
Shevaun represented the University of the Free State from 2012 to 2015 and represented the Free State U21 team from 2010 to 2014 as well.
From 2007 to 2009, Shevaun was a member of the Southern Free State (SFS) U16 team and followed it up by representing the SFS U18 team (2010 and 2011).
However, her major achievement was being selected as a member of the South African junior hockey squad form 2010 to 2011.
Casey-Jean started playing for the Eunice first team at the age of 14 and is still a member of the team. In primary school she was a member of the national U13 High Performance camp and the following year captained the SFS U14 team.
During her first year as an U16 player, Casey-Jean already played for the SFS (U16) and in 2014 she captained the same team. She is currently a member of the SFS U18 squad and was named as the player of the tournament at the All Girls Tournament where the top hockey schools in the country met in City of Roses earlier this year.
This accolade is more often than not presented to one of the members of the winning team at the tournament, but Eunice did not contest the final and she was still recognised as the best of the tournament.
Casey-Jean was part of the South African U17 squad in 2013 and added to this prestige by being a member of the South African Tournament team in 2015 as well.
