SA Masters has been reviewing the possibility of sending representative teams to the World Masters Hockey Indoor World Cup to be held in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States from 15-20 February 2022. We have set high standards for ourselves from a selection and preparation point of view, and we have concluded that we shall not be able to conduct a suitable selection process within the available time, and given the multitude of current projects underway.

We have been approached by pro-active individuals with a view to organising invitational teams to participate in the Indoor World Cup. These individuals have offered to organise these invitational teams subject to guidelines set by SA Masters and in the interests of furthering the participation in Masters Hockey in South Africa. Please note that it is not the intention to award SA Masters colours to the members of these teams and they will therefore not enjoy the status of SA Masters National teams.

We have discussed this as an Executive, and we believe it is an excellent opportunity to further the Indoor Masters game in South Africa, whilst giving players the opportunity to participate internationally.

We have asked Mark Halgryn, the Executive member for International Tournaments to oversee the project. We are fully aware that we might face criticism for potentially reverting to practices that we have worked very hard to eradicate in as far as national team selection are concerned, but we feel that we have established a credible, fair, and inclusive process as far as SA Masters representation is concerned and that we are able to clearly distinguish between invitational teams and representative national teams. It follows that we remain committed to the standards that we have set for representative national teams, but that we shall give invitational teams the opportunity to play where-ever possible. It is our intention to schedule a SA Masters Indoor IPT in 2022 which will become the springboard for participation in the 2024 Indoor World Cup.

We have earmarked the following individuals to organize the invitational teams:
• SA Men 40+ Invitational: Mark Halgryn (mark.at.jhbhomes.co.za)
• SA Men 45+ Invitational: Greg Darke (greg.at.kathea.co.za)
• SA Men 50+ Invitational: Greg Darke(greg.at.kathea.co.za)
• SA Men 55+ Invitational: Gary Davies (gary.davies.at.pointgroup.biz)
• SA Men 60+ Invitational: TBC

We have not had anyone step forward with a view to organize Ladies teams and the SA Men 60+ team. We ask that any individuals interested in stepping up to organize this very exciting adventure to email me as soon as possible at president@samastershockey.co.za. I ask that anybody interested in organising the SA Men 60+ or SA Ladies 60+ contact Barry Froneman at barryfroneman.at.telkomsa.net.

Any person who is interested in forming part of these invitational teams are asked to send their details with a short hockey CV to the team organisers as per above before 24 September 2021. Should the numbers of interested persons exceed the squad requirements (12 players), the organisers have committed to a fair assessment process to determine the final squad members. I stress that these processes, if required, may not be as stringent as the SA Masters World Cup trials due to time constraints and the fact that the teams are invitational in nature. We estimate that the costs of participation in the tournament will amount to approximately R25000 to R30000 per person, excluding spending money.

We also stress that all players selected for the WMH Field Hockey WC 2022 must obtain dispensation from SA Masters to attend the Indoor WC as we do not want players to withdraw from the field hockey squad to attend the Indoor event. We have no problem with you attending both events, but the field hockey World Cup takes precedence at this stage. We ask that you respect this approach and co-operate with SA Masters to ensure a meaningful and enjoyable event.

For the Love of the Game & Be Safe SA Masters Executive