admin
Sports Reporter
FORMER Hockey Association of Zimbabwe president Kays Kanyangarara is at the forefront to establish a corporate league in Bulawayo to keep the sport alive.
After noticing that there has been less club hockey activity in Bulawayo which is threatening to affect junior and seniors’ good run during national events where they have been winning most of the tournaments, Kanyangarara believes that corporate league will re-ignite the sport.
Bulawayo has a state-of-the-art hockey facility in Khumalo Hockey Stadium but high rentals have hindered athletes practising at the venue.
With the establishment of a corporate league, companies, according to Kanyangarara, will adopt teams and cater for their training and match related expenses like ground rentals.
“The high costs of booking the turf at the stadium has made it expensive for some players as they have to always pay their way for practice and match times before transport and other related costs. The economic challenges in the country have made it difficult to get sponsorship especially for the ‘smaller’ sports codes which don’t draw large crowds.
“This has impacted on development of the game to the grassroots levels. Most of our government schools no longer play hockey as they cannot afford the costs of equipment further reducing potential players for our clubs,” said Kanyangarara.
“Be that as it may, I’m still very hopeful that we can continue to raise our city’s flag high by continuing to do well. We have to be more creative and innovative in the way we do things. It’s to this end that Matabeleland Hockey Board would like to start a Corporate Hockey Social League. Companies will sponsor a team to play in the league which will be held every Friday evening at the Kumalo Hockey Stadium.”
Specific rules have been made so that retired or older players, young players (Under-16) or anyone who has never played hockey is able to participate and have fun.
Their target is to have the league running on the first Friday of March.
Online Reporter