Name: Kayla de Waal
Date of Birth: 11/06/2000
About:
I played provincial hockey throughout my High School career and made my first national team in 2016 (SA u16 B) where we played against Namibia, Zimbabwe and SA U16A. The following year I made the u17 SA Squad and U18 SA B team. In 2018 I was selected for the SA u18 A team. I was also selected as player of the tournament and Western Province won Gold for the first time in my outdoor IPT career. SA beat Australia in the test series and later on that year also won Gold at the African Youth Games (5s). I started playing indoor hockey at the age of 12 through PSI. I originally played for Barracudas and later on for the Seals. I was selected as player of the tournament in 2014 and made the All Stars team from 2016-2018. Winning gold in my final year was pretty epic. I took a gap year in 2019 where I travelled and coached. I competed at Senior Indoor IPT and received the most promising player award. I continued playing Club hockey for WPCC where I learnt lots! In November of 2019, I made my SA Indoor Senior National debut against Switzerland which was a moment I will never forget - it was so so special. We also played series against Ireland in December and Poland in January. In 2020, the SA U21 team played a test series against Holland and it was fantastic to be able to play against the best in the world. Western Province also won Silver at Indoor IPT and I was joint top goal scorer.
Currently:
I am currently studying BCom Industrial Psychology at Stellenbosch University. I enjoy playing other sports when I can, as well as watching sports (particularly tennis - I'm a big fan!), I also enjoy spending quality time with friends and family. I love the outdoors and anything adventurous.
Stick: ID2 for Indoor and SG9 for outdoor
Role Model:
Roger Federer
Career Highlight:
Reaching the Semi-Finals at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires 2018.
Favourite Quote:
"Give it everything you've got"
Social Media:
Instagram - kayla.dewaal
Facebook - Kayla de Waal