by Aimee Mittermayer
In addition to being a part of the Rhodes Women’s 1st hockey team, Jessica Feldtman’s dedication and intuitive thinking earned her a spot on the U/21 Eastern Province (EP) women’s hockey team earlier this year.
Originally from the Western Cape, and an old Rhenish girl, Jessica has played for her high school’s first team as well as for the Western Province in 2012. Throughout the rest of high school, she then played for the Boland A team.
Jessica Feldtman joined her EP team in Randburg to participate in the annual Interprovincial Tournament (IPT ) over the holidays. The team played a week- long tournament in a pool consisting of 11 different teams from different provinces.
The EP team performed better this year than they did last year, where they placed last at the tournament. This year, however, they placed seventh overall.
Jessica only had positive things to say about the tournament and commented that “the team dynamic was amazing” and that it was the “best IPT [she] had ever been on.”
As a second year journalism student, Jessica has to balance hockey and her university workload. However, despite the stress, when asked if she would try out for the U/21 team again next year, she did not hesitate in saying yes.
Now that IPT is over, she is looking forward to the upcoming hockey season, as well as the annual University Sports South Africa (USSA) tournament, which is being held in Stellenbosch this year. She is confident in this year’s Rhodes women’s hockey team and says she feels like “fitness levels are better than last year.”
She has high hopes that this year’s team will do well throughout the fast approaching hockey season.