SA hockey girls are badly in need of rest

SYDNEY -- South Africa's hockey girls at the Olympics are in dire need of rest after a gruelling build-up of international matches and energy-sapping travelling.

Skipper Karen Roberts and her team were clearly jaded in the athletes village yesterday after having travelled three-quarters of the globe to Sydney via South Africa from Argentina.

They lost twice and drew once against the host country that is rated fourth in the world during pre-Olympic matches, but kept their chins up with wins against Scotland and the U21 Argentinians.

"We arrived in South Africa from Argentina three days before departing for Sydney,'' said Roberts before the team left for a seaside training camp near Melbourne.

"A few of the girls have niggles and are fighting the after-effects of flu.

''We are pretty tired, which is obviously compounded by the jet-lag.

''It's been a tough run-in to the Olympics, but now we are here and we're very excited.''

With star-striker Pietie Coetzee sidelined with an ankle injury, and travelling with a contingent of 16 players, it turned out that 12 regulars played 10 matches between the Spanish tour to South Africa followed by the trip to Argentina. SA finished the Test series against Spain 3-1 up.

"It was heavy going, but we managed to pull through,'' said Roberts.

"Maybe it will have served to toughen us up for a very competitive pool.

"We're looking forward to some quality recovery at our training camp, then some sharpening up for our first game against Germany.''

The South Africans take on strong medal contenders Germany on September 17, then rest a day before their clash against Holland.

On September 21 they meet arch rivals New Zealand and then take on China the following day.

"We simply have to finish top three in our pool to get us through to the Champions Trophy among the top six.

''We have a pact within the team that if we make that target, we will celebrate big time.

''And our striker Karen Symons said that we can do what we like with her hair. Maybe we'll just shave it all off.''

While the SA Olympic medical staff need to keep a careful eye on the condition of those who appear to be run down during the critical jet-lag stages this week, they took early special precautions to fight off the gremlins that float in the Sydney air during the Australian spring.

Chief medical officer Wayne Derman, aware of the winds that stir up one of the world's biggest concentrations of hayfever-causing pollens and dust into the Sydney air, made sure that every member of the team was given an allergy test back in South Africa.

The entire squad underwent allergy tests during the end of June training camp in Durban and medication was prescribed to those in need which has rendered them resistant to Sydney's infamous hayfever epidemic when the winds signal the change of season.

Athletes were also given a new form of anti-flu medication which is natural in substance and with no elements that would register on the banned list during doping control. -- Sapa