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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
AFTER leading Zimbabwe hockey junior teams at different international tournaments, Tendayi Maredza felt it was time to develop the sport by nurturing young players.
This led him to set up Redz Hockey Academy in February this year in Harare and the project took off with about 20 athletes before the numbers increased to 110.
They have their training sessions at St John’s College.
Academy’s secretary, Tafadzwa Makamure, said their vision was to promote the growth of field hockey.
“The vision of the academy is to promote the growth of hockey in Zimbabwe and enhance players’ skills to meet the international standards through our training sessions that are run throughout the whole year.
“We cater for (players from) 6 to 21 years and to date we have had 110 athletes come through to the academy and 80 full members.
“So far, we are just focusing on training sessions but this year we played the Zambian schools team in Harare and next year we are looking to go on tour and compete at an invitation tournament in South Africa, funds permitting,” Makamure said.
Maredza said the move was inspired by his experiences during his tours with the junior teams at events such as the World Cup and Youth Olympic Games.
‘‘I came up with this idea after going to the Under-21 World Cup in 2016 and I was the assistant coach and last year I went with the Under-17 girls to the Youth Olympics in Argentina.
‘‘That’s when I realised it’s time for us to start this academy and be able to train the kids throughout the year, to be able to give them the right basics to be able to meet international standards,” said Maredza.
The academy has four coaches who take charge of the training sessions.
At the moment the academy caters for 110 players and Maredza, who is also the national men’s team captain, said it has been a satisfying journey with a lot of support from the parents.
“It’s been great. We started in February with only 18 to 20 kids and up to date we now have 110 kids that have come through the academy.
‘‘We had a lot of support from the parents and we have also started our development project.
‘‘We have started in Murewa and then we are going to spread the development project throughout Zimbabwe.
“So, basically, for the future we want to bring back hockey on the map. We want to go back to the Olympics, compete at the highest level, improve our rankings.
‘‘I think we can do this through this academy if we give our young athletes the right basics,” added Maredza.
The academy is appealing to the corporate world for kit sponsorship for their players and staff.
“I think with this sponsorship we just want to have an identity as an academy, which is through the academy kit.
‘‘I think it will go a long way and with a lot of kids you will be able to advertise the corporate sponsorship and stuff,” Maredza said.
The Redz academy are targeting to increase their number to 200 athletes come next year.
Online Reporter