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Ellina Mhlanga
Senior Sports Reporter
The Hockey Association of Zimbabwe are next month scheduled to hold a development series in Harare in efforts to improve their teams at various levels.
The series is due to take place from August 11 to 13 at St John’s Astro Turf.
It will involve Zimbabwe and Zambia with teams from Under-13, Under-14, Under-16, Under-18, senior men and women taking part.
HAZ held a series last year with Zambia but it focused on the Under-13, Under-16 and Under-18.
However, this year they have gone a step further to include the seniors’ sides from both countries in preparation for the Road to Paris Olympic qualifiers to be held later in the year, in South Africa.
The series is expected to bring together 396 players of all age groups.
HAZ secretary general Sarah Bennett said the idea is to promote the development and interest in the sport, in both countries – Zimbabwe and Zambia.
“This is a development series between Zimbabwe and Zambia. It’s a series that we are using to develop hockey in both countries at the various age groups as well as spreading the game and growing interest in the sport for both countries.
“We held a series last year with Zambia which involved the Under-13, Under-16 and Under-18 age groups.
“This year sees the inclusion of our senior national squads in preparation for both countries, for the Road to Paris Olympic Qualifiers,” said Bennett.
They are looking at expanding the series to include more countries from the Southern Africa region such as South Africa, who are among the leading countries in the sport on the continent.
“We will be looking at making this series more of a regional series involving RSA, Namibia, Botswana and Malawi going forward. It is paramount to see the standard of hockey grow in the region as this in-turn will aid in our development.”
The teams to participate in this series are already in place with the junior teams’ selection having been done between June and July.
“The junior teams were selected over the period of June and July.
“And the senior teams are using this series as preparation for the Road to Paris Olympic Qualifiers that will be held in Pretoria from the 29th (of) October to 5th (of) November 2023 as the hockey Olympic qualifiers will not take place at the African Games scheduled for next year,” Bennett said.
Bennett added they can only improve their world rankings with continued exposure to international competitions.
And such initiatives as the development series can lay a good foundation for the teams.
“The level and standard of hockey is on the up and this can be seen in the improvement of our national teams’ world rankings over the last four years. The national women (team) have gone from being ranked 78th in 2019 to currently 39th and our men ranked 54th in 2019 to currently 47th.
“Our world rankings can only continue to improve with more international games being played. All official test matches played result in world ranking points being awarded.
“Our ladies Junior World Cup team is currently ranked 21st in the world after having achieved their best finish of 12th at the last Junior World Cup.
“Without international exposure it will be very hard to maintain these world rankings. But sadly finances have major implications on what practically can be achieved in a calendar year,” Bennett said.
HAZ is also preparing for the forthcoming FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup scheduled for November 29 to December 10 in Santiago, Chile.
The Under-21 women’s side secured their place at the global event during the Junior Africa Cup held in Egypt, in March. And they are hoping for an improved outcome after finishing on position 12 at the last Junior World Cup staged in South Africa.
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