Basil Evans continues to show the ‘younger buggers’ how it’s done on the hockey field at the age of 78. At an age when many of his peers are perfecting their garden swings, 78-year-old Basil Evans is still perfecting hispenalty corners. This weekend in Durban, the evergreen KZN stalwart once again laced up for theMasters Interprovincial Tournament (IPT)alongside hundreds ofhockey players from across South Africa– just the latest chapter in a story that began more than five decades ago.
“I started playing for Tech in about 1972, when the club ran from Hoy Park, opposite the old ice rink in Durban. I just progressed from there,” he said. A few years – and an overseas trip – later, life took the entrepreneur to Empangeni on the KZN North Coast in 1976, where he joined a local club.
It became a 25-year stay, with Evans representing SA Country Districts while building his reputation as a dependable team man. In 2000, he relocated to Kloof and a new phase of his hockey journey began. It wasn’t long before he found his way into the masters ranks and, eventually, helped form the SA grand masters structure that would put South Africa firmly on the global vintage-hockey map.
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In 2010, at the Masters World Cup in Cape Town, the SA Grand Masters committee was established. Evans has served on that committee ever since. “It’s been quite a journey from 2010,” he said.
“We’ve been one of the only countries represented at every World Cup since then.” As part of the grand masters set-up, he has featured in several World Cups, held every two years. His most vivid memory? Cape Town 2024 – the first time South Africa fielded a 75-plus side at a World Cup.
Evans was there, proudly wearing the green and gold. “We were in the second tier behind some of the big nations like the Netherlands, Germany and England,” he said. “We played for bronze and came fourth.” Not bad for a debut 75-plus team mixing it with traditional powerhouses.
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