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Ellina Mhlanga
THE national Under-21 men and women’s field hockey teams are stepping up their preparations for the forthcoming Junior Africa Cup scheduled to take place later this year.
The tournament is due to be staged in Windhoek, Namibia from November 30 to December 8 with both men 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 participate in the HHB Club league,” said Jones. Top three teams per gender qualify for the junior global showpiece and Zimbabwe will be hoping both the men 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 at 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.
“With three teams qualifying this gives us a good chance to be in the qualifying teams if we can manage to get the funds to participate.
“Both squads have a lot of potential and there is a lot of junior players that have come up for development, so it will be exciting to see them all grow,” said Jones. They are also hoping to get the needed support that will make the teams’ participation at the Junior Africa Cup a reality.
“So at the moment we are just training in preparation around school and work for those involved,” said Jones. The women’s side is under the guidance of Brad Heuer and Prince Mwale is in charge of the men’s team.
South Africa are the defending champions in both categories.
Online Reporter