HAZ annual general meeting on

Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
THE Hockey Association of Zimbabwe is today expected to meet in Bulawayo for their general meeting to deliberate on several issues pertaining to the sport. The meeting is pencilled for this evening at Old Miltononians Sports Club and will be followed by the HAZ Cup tomorrow at Khumalo Hockey Stadium and an awards night after the tournament.

HAZ vice president, Humphrey Chigwedere, said they were hoping to come up with a strategic plan for 2014 to 2018.
“This year there is not much, we will probably have one or two amendments, the president’s report and the treasurer’s report.

“I know there was a proposal to ratify the provincial names, there were old names with the provinces for example it was just Matabeleland and not Bulawayo but now there is Bulawayo Metropolitan province.

“Our colours were different, according to SRC we are given colours for each province. It was not reflected in our constitution, now we want to have the proper 10 provinces, colours and emblem.

“At the meeting we are going to present a draft for our strategic plan and should be operational from 2014 to 2018. After that we will take it to the corporate world,” said Chigwedere.

On the tournament, Chigwedere said it would be used to choose the clubs that would represent the country at the Africa Cup of Club Championships in Ghana.

“The HAZ cup is going to be played on Saturday and then in the evening we have the awards. That’s where we draw our representatives for the Africa Cup of Club Championships.

“Usually it’s one men and one women’s team unless you are hosting or another nation pulls out and it all goes down to costs. This year it’s going to be held in Ghana,” said Chigwedere.

The tournament will feature eight men and women teams.
The men’s category will see defending champions, Hippo Valley, battling it out against Queens, Rams and Enthusiasts while the women’s section features title holders BAC Ladies, Scorpions, Sunrise and Harare Select.

The matches will be played in a knock-out format and will start at the semi-final stage with the losers playing for the third and fourth place.