Online Reporter
Ellina Mhlanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE Hockey Association of Zimbabwe are stepping up their preparations for the forthcoming Junior Series with the teams to represent the country now in place.
The series is slated for August 13 to 16 in Harare.
It is part of HAZ’s wider development plan, which will see Under-13, Under-14, Under-16 and Under-18 boys and girls participating. Zimbabwe will be joined by Namibia, Zambia, Botswana, Eswatini and South Africa for the four-day competition.
HAZ president Humphrey Chigwedere said the teams are now in place and some of them have already begun training sessions.
“We assembled squads and those teams will play in the junior series. For the Under-13s and 14s the teams are also ready. What we are doing now is we are holding practice sessions. I know that this past weekend, the Under-18s they had some training sessions at St John’s.
“So, the various management teams and their coaches are now holding some training sessions for the teams to get them ready for the tournament,” said Chigwedere.
With the players picked from different provinces, and with school commitments the sessions are likely to take place in different areas.
“Usually, because of the location of the players, sometimes you can have the camp in different parts of the country. But as you get closer to the tournament, they obviously converge at a place where they sort of camp together,” added Chigwedere.
This is the fourth edition of the series and the event has seen HAZ’s regional counterparts coming on board with Eswatini joining in last year.
South Africa have come on board for this year’s edition.
In an earlier interview, Chigwedere said they were excited to have one of the top hockey playing nations gracing the series.
“The numbers have actually grown. South Africa is coming in. They have not been taking part . . . And the last edition, Eswatini was an addition.
“It’s actually growing. If you look at the composition, it shows that most of the Southern African hockey playing nations are coming.
“Unfortunately, some of our colleagues in Southern Africa do not play hockey, or if they are playing hockey, it’s still at infant stages, such as Mozambique and Lesotho.
“South Africa is top, and it’s exciting for us to have them around because then it means our competition increases. We then get good competition,” said Chigwedere.
