adminMzingaye Sibanda Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Schools Hockey Association has selected the Under-17 boys’ team to tour Malaysia and Indonesia in August.
The selection was done during the Under-17 inter-provincial tournament held at Lomagundi High School in Harare over the weekend.
Hockey Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) spokesperson Humphrey Chigwedere confirmed the developments yesterday.
“Yes, the squad for the Malaysia and Indonesian tour has been selected, they are set for a tour in August which is being organised by the schools.
“The selection was done at the inter-provincials tournament held at Lomagundi on Friday and Saturday,” said Chigwedere.
Seventeen travelling players and 10 non-travelling reserves were picked from five provinces that participated, which are Mashonaland (Harare), Masvingo, Matabeleland (Matabeleland South and Bulawayo), Mashonaland Country Districts (Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West and Manicaland) and the Midlands.
The hosts Lomagundi College have five players while Falcon College and Peterhouse have four each in the squad.
Chigwedere said that the boys would get good exposure by playing other countries.
“It’s good that these boys are getting a chance to travel and get exposure from other countries because we want to regroup and start from grassroots level.
“We have even started clubs at Blanket Mine because the state of hockey in the country is bad,” said Chigwedere.
HAZ suffered a major setback when the International Hockey Federation withdrew an opportunity for the country to play host to a World Hockey League qualifying tournament which was set for Harare in August.
This was largely due to the HAZ’s failure to raise requisite funds to upgrade Magamba Hockey Stadium to meet the required international standards.
Zimbabwe Schools Squad for Asian tour:
P. Mafi , M.Conolly, R Oatley, T. Kanyangarara (Falcon College), S. Hunt, A. Mlambo, K. Mutungi, S. Charumah, V. Dhlomo (Lomagundi College), S. Nethersole, K Bruce, A. Makuvise ,P. Sanyatwe (Peterhouse), R. Murray (St Johns College), R. Healy (St Georges), T. Mbedzi (Hippo Valley), C. Makombe (Eaglesvale)
Coach: S. Flanagan ( Lomagundi College)
Manager: B. Mukadam (Christian Brothers College-CBC)
Non- travelling reserves:
B. Cyprianos, D. Moyo (CBC), T. Chiradza, H. Munyanyi, C. Sithloe (Hippo Valley), R. Chiminya (Peterhouse), T. Madonko (Falcon), B. Sly ( St Georges), A. Lake (St Johns College ), P. Rennie (Hellenic)
derick.khumalo