Africa

Collin Matiza
Harare

THE Zimbabwe Under-19 women hockey team's participation at the World Cup in Chile in September is hanging in the balance as the Hockey Association of Zimbabwe have failed to raise the foreign currency required for the trip.

Custom Kachambwa, the HAZ president, told The Herald yesterday that they have all but pulled the team out of the tournament because they have failed to get the US$80 000 that is required for the trip to South America.


"The trip for the Zimbabwe Under-21 women's team to Chile for the World Cup is failing to materialise because of the foreign currency issue.

"We applied to the Government for the foreign currency through the Sports Commission and the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture and we were recently informed that there is no foreign currency for the team.

"Unless something comes up before the end of this week, the trip is considered cancelled."

He said they would notify the organisers of the World Cup of their decision to pull out of the tournament at the end of this week.

"In fact, the tournament is in September but we have to confirm our participation by the end of this week and it is unfortunate that we are going to be forced to pull out because of the foreign currency issue."

The HAZ, Kachambwa said, were very disappointed by the latest development.

"We understand that all national teams are the property of the Government when it comes to their participation in international tournaments, especially outside the country.

"We, as an association, only come in to assist in the team's preparations and if the owner of the team is not able to assist, then there is not much else we can do."

Kachambwa said it would be a big blow to the development of hockey in the country if the team eventually pulled out of the World Cup.

"Already the qualification to Chile had opened the doors for some of our girls who have already been offered hockey scholarships in the United States.

"These girls were going to get the much-needed international exposure at the World Cup but it seems as if we are moving a step backward by pulling out of this tournament."

The development of hockey in Zimbabwe has failed to make any significant strides over the past years despite the country having two state-of-the-art stadiums in Harare and Bulawayo.

The Government built two world class stadiums - Magamba in Harare and Khumalo in Bulawayo - for the 1995 All-Africa Games.

But the two facilities are almost turning into white elephants due to poor maintenance.


HAZ have also over the past few years failed to hold any international tournaments or matches for the national teams at the two stadiums due to lack of sponsorship.

Kachambwa's association lives from hand-to-mouth as they have failed to attract any meaningful sponsorship from both the private and public sector.

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