Olympic success is something that every sports person has dreamt about at some point in their careers, and Rhodes student Cody van Wyk is getting close as he prepares to head off to the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China, in mid-August.
Olympic success is something that every sports person has dreamt about at some point in their careers, and Rhodes student Cody van Wyk is getting close as he prepares to head off to the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China, in mid-August.
Van Wyk told Grocott's Mail that he started playing hockey in Grade 1. “My mom is a teacher and the school she was working had these spare hockey sticks lying around. So one day she brought one home for me and told me this is a sport I should play. And then it just stuck.”
Van Wyk, who is from Port Elizabeth, first made the Eastern Cape provincial team in high school, though, when he was on the verge of giving up. “I made the Eastern Cape side in Grade 8 and that was enough to inspire me to carry on playing.”
Van Wyk is usually a midfielder when it comes to 11-man hockey but in the Youth Olympics there is only the five-man game, so he will play a defensive role. In five-man hockey there are two attackers, two defenders and a goal keeper. The sides are boarded up so there are no outs as there are in 11-man hockey. There is far more space and far more points scored, according to Van Wyk.
He said that Rhodes' hockey is looking up, despite recently being relegated from Varsity Cup to the B-League.
“It really is looking a lot better," he said. "There are a few guys I know from other universities who are great players who are coming to Rhodes next year for their hockey, which can mean only good things.”
Van Wyk leaves for Johannesburg tomorrow to sort out his visa. “I have two tests as soon as I get beck, so I will probably have to study on the plane,” he said.
The South African team is scheduled to leave for Nanjing 16 August.
