admin
Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE national women’s cricket team opening batter, Sharne Mayers is one of the officials umpiring at the inaugural African Hockey5s World Cup Qualifiers in Ismaila, Egypt which are coming to a close today.
The Lady Chevrons star, who is also a qualified hockey umpire, has officiated over six matches so far in the tournament. She has also been a reserve umpire in one match.
Mayers is not a new face to the hockey umpiring world having a career spanning seven years. She made her international debut in 2015 and has been going strong ever since as she has also earned an International Hockey Federation (FIH) panel upgrade.
“I umpired my first international tournament in 2015 in South Africa and was upgraded to the FIH panel of umpires in 2016. Since then I have umpired at quite a few tournaments and various other internationals,” said Mayers.
The 30-year-old cricketer is not only familiar with the national colours for the Lady Chevrons as she has represented Zimbabwe in hockey at the international level. She also played in hockey junior age groups.
“I have played hockey since the age of eight, I first represented Zimbabwe at the age group level at 18 in 2010. I made my debut for the women’s national team in 2011 and also played for the Under-21 women’s team in 2012,” said Mayers.
In 2019, the FIH executive board decided to create an FIH Hockey 5s World Cup, to further boost the development of the game globally through the promotion of its 5-a-side format. Played in about 70 countries in the world, Hockey5s was the most attended sport at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Participating in both hockey and cricket events, Mayers indicated that managing between the two sporting codes comes down to planning and keeping in touch with the two associations (Zimbabwe Cricket and Hockey Association of Zimbabwe).
“Lots of planning, staying ahead of my schedule and communication with both national associations. I am very blessed that they, Zimbabwe Cricket and Hockey Association of Zimbabwe, are both very understanding and supportive of my involvement in both sports,” said Mayers.
Mayers might be the only Zimbabwean umpire at the event but the tournament delegate, Sarah Bennett, is Zimbabwean as well. Bennett is a former international umpire and an ex-Zimbabwe national team player. — @brandon_malvin
Online Reporter