Hockey women’s U-21 team to be trimmed

Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter

THE Hockey Association of Zimbabwe’s (HAZ) Women’s Under-21 38-member provisional squad for the 2023 Junior World Cup which will be held at the end of the year in Santiago, Chile is set to be cut down to 25.

The final 25-member squad will also consist of non-travelling reserves. The youngsters have begun training ahead of the announcement of the final squad.

In July, the side will also be cut short with the final travelling team scheduled to be selected closer to the World Cup. The team trains on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Head coach, Brad Heuer said he expects his players to get their fitness levels up and work on maintaining it as it will be a tough challenge and they need an experienced team with mental and physical strength.

“The mood in the camp is good. Everyone is refreshed and all players know that they are going to have to work hard.

Main things I expect from the players is to get their fitness levels up and maintain it and also to keep working on their individual skills, as a lot of the players are either busy with their own school hockey or at university overseas.

“It is going to be tough. We need to travel with the most experienced and mature side, we need players with both mental and physical strength,” said Heuer.

Some of the players who made the provisional squad cut include Khanyisile Mzizi, Tumi Sibanda, Amber Tozana, Chelsey-Lee Hares, Athina Mujiba, Tinodiwanashe Elijah, Tanyaradzwa Changa and the team skipper, Jorja Jones. The players, among others, were all part of the team that helped Zimbabwe qualify for the World Cup.

The Under-21 women’s team booked their place to South America after securing a second-place finish in the Africa Junior Cup (AJC) which was held in Ismailia, Egypt, in March.

Heuer’s charges finished with six points from a possible nine while South Africa, who topped the standings won all their three games to secure nine out of nine points.

In their three matches at the continental showdown, Zimbabwe lost their opening encounter against South Africa 3-0 before going on to bounce back in the second match, beating the hosts, 4-0. The team ended their campaign on a high note with a thumping 7-0 win over Kenya.

Heuer will be assisted by Tapiwa Pongweni and Nicolle Grant while Carla Jones is the team manager. The technical team also has Tiffany Driscoll who is a sports therapist and Kudzanai Tembo, a videographer.

In other hockey news, HAZ also made appointments to the Zimbabwe School Hockey Management teams for boys’ and girls’ teams.

In the boys’ U-18A, Tafuma Kanyiwe will be the head coach and will be assisted by Gerald Ntelezi while Itayi Nhema will be the manager.

The U-18B side will be under the stewardship of Takunda Chipumha who will be assisted by Ronny Mutopo with Jenias Sibanda as the manager.

Michael Chitsiga was named head coach of the U-16A team and will be assisted by Didmore Makwiranzou.

The B team will be under the tutelage of Forbes Thindwa who will be assisted by Leecon Hadaga while Peter Chimuseu was named manager.

In the girls’ side, Tendayi Maredza was appointed head coach of the U-18A side while Florence Mhasho was named manager.

Nicolle Grant, Osler Werret and Nyasha Mandizha were named head coach, assistant coach and manager respectively. For the U-16A team, Kudzai Nyabezi was named the head coach while Leigh Costas will be the manager.

Bridget Reilly and Gavin Costas were named girls’ U-16B head and assistant coaches respectively.
Zimbabwe Under-21 Women’s

Provisional squad:
Ella Allardice, Tanyaradzwa Changa, Bethel Chidzwondo (gk), Stembile Chikoore, Tanatswa Chikotosa, Thedora Chingombe, Hayley Clark, Tayla Dean, Tinodiwanashe Elijah, Tayla Ellerman, Done Erasmus, Tyla Falkenberg, Kiara Goodinson, Chelsey-Lee Hares, Amy Hay, Jorja Jones, Panaka Kambadza, Danielle Lowe, Nicole Lowe, Ayanda Mangenah (gk), Tatenda Maswera, Tariro Mautsa, Siphosenkosi Moyo, Athina Mujuba, Tanatswa Mukotekwa, Nakai Mujaranji, Tanatswa Mutaramuswa (gk), Natasha Muwani, Khanyisile Mzizi, Kelcy Ndoro, Nyasha Nyaguze, Nicolle Nyamapfeka, Emma Reilly, Tumi Sibanda, Kaylee Sithole, Amber Tozana, Victoria Wood, Rumbizaiishe Zimuto. – Follow on Twitter @brandon_malvin