Brief History:

Hockey made a brief apparance at College in 1927 before disappearing off the scene. Years later in 1961, the school gained considerable prestige when D.Ryder and E.Eckstein were both selected for Natal and S.A. Schools', Ryder being chosen as the captain of the S.A. Schools hockey team while only in fifth form. Prior to 1974 the school had produced Springboks in DA Bestall (1951), FC Bestall (1957), JCS Oehley (1957-61), J.Finnie (1957), LB Bird (1963-67), G Castle (1963), BV Edwards (1964-1967), D Ryder (1965-70), D Bestall (1970-80 Captain), TR Larkin (1973). It was only in 1974 that the sport gained "official" status at Maritzburg College. In effect this meant that the sport was now to be offered to any boys who showed an interest, that regular practcies would be held and that regular inter school fixtures would be allowed to be played. Prior to this boys in the school had in a clandestine way arranged games for themselves against local school and club opposition, with the game being frowned upon from within the school.

The 1974 team was coached by AJJ Brownell and included DD Turnbull(Captain), who was later to represent South Africa at hockey, and TG Shaw who would go on to represent his country at cricket.
Through the remainder of the 70's, College hockey continued to grow with only a small sprinkling of provincial schools players being produced. During this time, College hosted its first Ascension School's Hockey Festival in 1977. The coaches, through the remainder of the 70's, included K Pooler(1975-77) and D Turner(1979).

The 1980's saw College hockey grow into a formidable force not only in Natal but in South Africa as well. Twenty eight boys were to gain Natal Schools A colours. A further eight players were chosen for the SA Schools team. The sport was given Barns ground as the official home evnue. These grass fields, in years to come, were to gain a reputation as being the best in the province and amongst the best in the country. J Kedian coached the 1st XI from 1980-82 with L Wedderburn(1980) and A Wormington(1981) gaining SA Schools' caps. MB Bechet, who had arrived at College in July 1981 to teach Physical Education, and a current Natal player at the time, took over the reigns as 1st XI coach in July 1982. He has held the post ever since, producing some 7 Springboks and a further 41 SA Schools players in that time. At present he has coached the 1st XI for some 494 matches with the 500th game coming of age during the course of the 2005 season.

In 1983 a record five College boys represented the Natal Schools' A Team. The 1983 1st XI captained by AL Brown, lost only once in twenty five outings ! The 1985 team led by JL Brown, brother of AL Brown, went on a goal scoring spree to score 101 goals in twenty nine games of which only one was lost. In the interim College hockey had unearthed a gem in the form of Standard 7 youngster JN Rhodes who was later to become a household name in cricket circles worldwide. Rhodes made his 1st XI debut as a 14 yearold in 1984. JL Brown and JN Rhodes gained SA Schools' caps in 1985. Rhodes would go on to captain the SA Schools' XI in 1987 in a season in which the 1st XI lost only one of their twenty seven fixtures. Rhodes accounted for 50 of the 87 goals scored in 1987 to bring his tally to 125 goals in 110 appearances for the 1st XI, a record that will take some beating. That this was done on and around the grass surfaces of South Africa makes it an even more significant record that is bound to take some beating ! The 1988 team yielded one SA Schhols' cap in MJ Ross who would go on to captain the same team in 1989. The 1989 team was College's first unbeaten 1st XI with twenty wins and six draws.