Coach 'impressed with team effort' in SA men's hockey FIH Pro League debut

While the results might not have gone their way, there's no denying that the SA men's hockey side benefited from their debut at the FIH Pro League held in Potchefstroom.

On Monday evening, South Africa lost their final game 3-1 to Germany but again gave an excellent account of themselves against more experienced opposition.

The hosts were invited to the tournament following the withdrawal of New Zealand and Australia.

Despite suffering some heavy defeats early on, coach Garreth Ewing acknowledged that the experience of playing against top-class opposition was what the team needed.

"I think I am most impressed with the team effort and cohesion and how hard the guys fought," Ewing said of the tournament experience.

"It has been a tough eight matches, and I think the first week was a shock to the system for us as it's been a while since we played at this level. It took a while for us to adjust.

"But I think it was really good how we grew through the tournament, and we gave a good account of ourselves for these last few games."

The South Africans were particularly impressive in Sunday's game against France, and despite going down 2-1, it's a game they felt they could have won after leading 1-0. 

While it was regrettable the team couldn't register a win, Ewing believes that the Pro League certainly helped his players understand the level they need to reach to be competitive against top class opposition. 

"We are exceptionally disappointed to still have lost all eight matches," he said.

"But we know it's not about the Pro League. It's actually about the progress that we can make through Pro League, and the learnings are there to be seen.

"We know where we need to carry on improving on the training ground and getting ourselves back into