Travel-weary Kenyan clubs chase Africa hockey titles

From swollen legs, to playing on unfamiliar sand-based artificial turf, Kenya teams are determined to bring the African Cup for Club Hockey Champions titles home as the event gets underway on Saturday at the National Hockey Stadium in Blantyre, Malawi.

Former champions Blazers and Lakers Hockey Club carry Kenya’s title hopes in the women’s category, while Western Jaguars will be Kenya’s only representative in the men’s competition.

Lakers and Western Jaguars made the road trip to the Southern Africa nation and arrived on Friday, having left the country on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. Blazers flew out on Thursday, thanks to Ministry of Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba who facilitated their trip.

Speaking moments after the team’s arrival in Malawi on Friday, Jaguars Team Manager Peter Okova confirmed that his players had suffered swollen legs and were hoping to recover in time for their opening match on Sunday.

“Malawi is fine. We thank God we arrived safely. We are recovering after a long journey here by road, but we are eager to win the tournament. We will be keen to take one match at a time. We left Kenya on Wednesday at 4am and went through Namanga, Arusha, Dodoma, Iringa, onto Mbeya Kasumulu border, then to Songwe and Lilongwe, close to 2,100 kilometres, “ Okova told Nation Sport on phone from Blantyre on Friday.

“There is calm in the camp  though most of the players ended up having swollen legs. At least our first match is on Sunday, so we have time to recover,”  he added.

Jaguars, who are making their second appearance in the event have been pooled in Group ‘B’ together with Scorpions and Parachute Battalion all from Malawi, and Police Machine from Nigeria.

Jaguars will play the Police Machine on Sunday, and rest on Monday. They will then square it off with Scorpions on Tuesday before wrapping up their preliminary round with a clash against Parachute on Thursday.

Lakers team manager John Paul said: “We travelled by road but that will not deter us from going for the trophy.”

They are in Pool ‘A’  with Scorpions and Genetrix from Malawi, and Delta Queens from Nigeria. Lakers play Delta Queens on Saturday, then face Scorpions on Wednesday and Genetrix on Thursday.

The self-sponsored team from Kisumu finished fourth ahead of Blazers and Strathmore University as Ghana Revenue Authority from Ghana retained the title.

Blazers, formerly Telkom say playing on the Sand Astro turf will come with its shortcomings but believe they have a chance to reclaim the title they last won in 2018 in Abuja, Nigeria.

“This is our first time playing on the sand astro turf. We managed to have a feel of the turf on Thursday and Friday and I must admit it’s not easy. But I’m just happy that almost all teams here will be playing on the turf for the first time and that gives every team a fair chance. We will start our campaign against Kada Queens from Nigeria. They are a good side who have shown improvement and we just want to start on a sound note,” said Blazers team manager Jane Nyamogo.

Blazers are in pool “B” together with Capital Braves of Malawi and defending champions GRA.
The top two teams in each pool will book a place in the semi-final.