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Ellina Mhlanga
Senior Sports Reporter
THE national Under-21 men’s and women’s field hockey teams are stepping up their preparations for the forthcoming Junior Africa Cup scheduled to take place later this year.
It is due to be staged in Windhoek, Namibia from November 30 to December 8 with both men’s and women’s teams taking part.
The event will feature top African junior hockey teams that will compete for the title and three spots for the FIH Junior World Cup scheduled for next year.
The coaches have been working with the provisional squads since April and the recent practice sessions were held over the weekend.
Team manager for the women’s side Carla Jones said preparations are shaping up with most of the players having participated in various competitions ranging from the school league, Central-South Africa Qualifier, and the Junior Series held in August in Harare.
“The teams have been practicing since April bearing in mind some of the players have been between our indoor teams that played in Namibia, their school league teams, and the CSA Qualifiers plus the Junior series — so there has been a variety of training.
“Teams are training two to three times a week as well as participating in games, as well as the players participating in the HHB Club league,” said Jones.
The top three teams per gender qualify for the junior global show-piece and Zimbabwe will be hoping both the men’s and women’s teams earn the tickets to the Junior World Cup. The women’s side has qualified several times and were part of the proceedings at the previous Junior World Cup in Santiago, Chile last year in December.
They had booked their place in the tournament when finishing second at the Junior Africa Cup held in Egypt in March of the same year.
While the women’s side will be hoping to repeat the same feat as they did last year, the men’s side will be hoping for better fortunes having struggled to qualify over the years.
Jones said preparations are shaping up well with both squads showing a lot of potential.
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