Cassiem bros stick together as future of game

“THEY were still little and used to be in our change-room and run on the field at half-time.”

These are the fond memories former South Africa men’s hockey captain Bruce Jacobs has of the Cassiem brothers, Dayaan and Mustapha, who recently lit up the international hockey stage at the Tokyo Olympics.

Jacobs, who led the SA team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has walked a long road with the Cassiem family. In fact, it began long before the brothers were even born with Jacobs and their father, SA Council of Sport (Sacos) hockey legend Abdullah ‘Casa’ Cassiem, tearing defences apart together for the Central Hockey Club in Athlone, Cape Town.

“Yeah … their dad, Casa, he played Sacos hockey and that’s where their passion for the game was instilled,” Jacobs said.

“They would be at the field every single week, watching us play. They were still little and used to be in our change-room and on the field at half-time. They always had a stick in their hands and wanted to dribble with the ball on the turf. They’ve always had natural ball-skills.”

But unlike Casa, who never had the opportunity to represent his country due to the Apartheid regime that precluded non-whites from being selected for South African sports teams, the Cassiem brothers are now Olympians in 2021 and arguably the future of SA hockey.

Their path to the top has also been smoothed with both brothers having been afforded scholarships to the prestigious Diocesan College (Bishops) in Rondebosch, which was a completely contrasting environment to where they lived in Colorado Park, Mitchells Plain.

It was not just the opportunity to express themselves on the hockey pitch against the best schoolboy hockey players in the country every week, but also instil them with the life skills for what is likely to be a career spent overseas.

Dayaan, 22, has already tasted it with a year spent playing at a German second division club, while Mustapha, 19, has traded the Cape for the warmer waters of KwaZuluNatal, where he is studying at Varsity College in Durban North.

After their starring performances in Tokyo, with Dayaan finishing as South Africa’s joint-highest goal-scorer at the tournament with three strikes, and Mustapha also bulging the net with a couple of goals, including the winner in the epic victory over Germany, there is every likelihood that the dynamic duo could be lined up for moves to European clubs in the near future.

“I’ll meet up with them when they get back to South Africa from Tokyo and we’ll have a chat about what the future holds,” said Jacobs, who was capped 150 times for South Africa.

“It would definitely be massive if they could secure a move to Europe. It is something we really encourage for all our players as they will then regularly mix with the best players in the world.

“Exposure to such a high level of hockey on a regular basis can only improve the overall standard of South African hockey.

“We have good contacts in Holland through Central Hockey club and it’s hopefully something that can happen.

“It’s also fully professional, which will allow them to focus purely on playing hockey.”