Hockey teams up the ante

Sports Reporter

THE Zimbabwe Under-21 men’s and women’s hockey teams will this week enter the final phase of preparations for this weekend’s Junior Africa Cup tournament in Egypt, amid high hopes that they will make a huge impact at the continental tourney.

Zimbabwe will be part of the four nations – including South Africa, Kenya and hosts Egypt – that will feature in both the men’s and women’s categories. Zimbabwe now have a clearer picture of their schedule following the release of fixtures for the men’s and women’s categories.

The two teams will open their account at the continental tournament with games against neighbours South Africa on the first day of the competition, March 12, with the opening ceremony sandwiched between the two matches.

After engaging South Africa, Zimbabwe’s sides will then face Egypt and Kenya, for the women and men, respectively, the following day.

March 14 has been designated a rest day, after which the Zimbabwe women’s team wrap up their group games against Kenya, while the men play Egypt on March 15. The final day of the competition will see all the teams play for placement, with the two top-seeded sides playing in the final. Zimbabwe are expected to depart for Egypt on Thursday, with both the men’s and women’s side coaches, Prince Mwale and Brad Heuer, respectively, hopeful of a good outing and keen to make an impact.

“We expect to leave for Egypt on Thursday and hope to rest the following day.

“The goal is to train a little bit and get a feel of the turf before our first match.

“This should help us acclimatise to the playing conditions in Egypt before our first game,” said Heuer.

“We are trying to organise a practice match with the South African Under-21 ladies, so we can get a feel of the Egyptian conditions and acclimatise to them.

“We will be playing in the Egyptian heat and have to get used to the Astro turf in Egypt,” he said. However, the women’s team have had some tough times in the run-up to Thursday’s departure.

“The tactical side has been a little bit tough as the girls have not all been around, what with school and university commitments.

“However, everyone should be in by the time we leave for Egypt, and that will make things a lot better,” said Heuer. “We hope to iron out a few things on the tactical side and put in the work when it comes to our long and short corners.

“We have been working on those areas since last year, but there is always room for improvement.” The two teams have been training since October last year. Last weekend, there was an Under-21 men’s tournament in Bulawayo.

Mwale was happy with what he saw and added that the aim of the tournament was to give the men’s team a good run.

“The tournament in Bulawayo was a huge success; the boys played with so much cohesion and ticked all the boxes,” said Mwale.

“We had one more camp after that, during which our foreign-based players came in, and we have been doing a little polishing up since,” he said.