Chronicle Editor
Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Under-21 national hockey teams are expected to leave for Egypt in the next few weeks and the Hockey Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) says it is still appealing for sponsorship to enable the teams to participate in the Africa Junior Championships.
The association says the men and women Under-21 hockey sides are supposed to participate at the continental showpiece but it has only raised about 60 percent of the required resources.
“This is an urgent sponsor appeal to our community. We are 40 percent off our target to get our U21 teams to the Junior World Cup Egypt 2023,” said HAZ in a statement.
The association has been holding fundraising activities and the recent one was in Bulawayo where the boys’ team was involved in matches against local teams. The side managed to produce good results which is a confirmation that they are likely to do well in Egypt.
“We are appealing to individuals and corporates to assist the teams so that we are represented at the continental showpiece,” said HAZ executive board member, Cliff Kaseke.
The two teams scheduled to travel to Egypt also took part in exhibition matches at the beginning of the month in Harare where they played against select teams at Saint John’s Trust Astro Turf and both teams won their encounters 2-0.
Some of the support for the youngsters has come from companies and parents.
“We are grateful to companies and individual parents that have come forward to sponsor the players and are still appealing for more to enable the teams to travel to Egypt,” said Kaseke.
He said preparations on the field have been going well and the players having been fine tuning for some time.
The Junior Africa Cup will serve as a direct qualifier for the 2023 Junior World Cup, with the winner and runner-up qualifying.
— @brandon_malvin
Online Reporter