Dreams do come true, and Alexander Road High School hockey player Mija Kliment exemplifies this.
Born in SA, Kliment said it had always been her dream to one day play for Slovakia’s senior national team, where her late mother is originally from.
Seven years later, the enthusiastic 18-year-old’s ambitions have come true.
She has been chosen to join the Slovakian women’s national indoor hockey team, who are currently preparing for the EuroHockey Indoor Championship II Women 2026.
The event will start on January 16 and finish on January 18 in Lousada, Portugal.
The 2024 edition of this tournament determined their current ranking and pool placement for future competitions, where Slovakia finished fourth.
“This is an opportunity that I have dreamt about since I was 11 years old,” Kliment said.
“I first became a proper goalkeeper in a kit when I was 11, and the dream that I had was to make the Slovakian national hockey team one day.
“Now, I am living my dream. I am excited for this opportunity because it’s something that I have dreamt about since I was a child.
“I have dual citizenship.
“I was born in SA, but my whole culture and heritage is Slovakian. We are all from there.”
At the age of 14, while playing for the Vipers PE U14 girls side, Kliment, who will be doing matric in 2026 at Alex, was selected to be part of the PSI Africa All-Star indoor hockey team to tour Europe in January 2023.
On how her selection to the Slovakian senior national team came about, Kliment said: “Two years ago, I started being scouted by the Slovakian national team due to them wanting to win a gold medal at the EuroCup.
“They were forming a team and had already started selecting who they wanted.
“They wanted to bring in three international players and have the rest local.
“So, they saw me play in one of my tournaments, and they contacted my father, and then afterward, my dad started communicating with them.
“After seeing my clips and watching me play, they came back and said, ‘We want you.’
“My relations with them will not only be for this EuroCup; they want to work with me for a 10-year process.
“So, I am going to stay with them for, hopefully, the next 10 years.
“This selection means a lot to me due to the fact that Slovakia is my mom’s home country. My mom passed away when I was younger.
“So I do not remember much of her, so this is something that makes me feel very close to her. I am huge into family and my culture.
“One of the reasons why I love SA is due to the different cultures and how different everybody is. It’s beautiful.
“For my hockey going forward, I am hoping to put my name out there.
“I am hoping to make goalkeepers look big. I want people to want to become goalkeepers because goalkeepers are not a common position.
“It’s very rare to get a good goalkeeper.”
The Herald