The Sunday Mail
Brighton Zhawi
ZIMBABWE indoor hockey ladies team coach Chris Fourie has lauded his ‘brilliant’ team, calling them ‘queens of balancing their lives’ ahead of the country’s test series in South Africa next week.
The team is training at Sunrise Sports Club in the after hours, preparing for a Test series featuring hosts South Africa and Botswana from May 27-June 2 in Durban.
The Zimbabwean ladies are training after their day-to-day running and that determination has impressed their coach.
Hosts South Africa look to be the biggest threat, as they are ranked 16th in the world, while Botswana has no ranking and Zimbabwe is number 33.
“It has been brilliant working with and coaching players who share the same goal and have the same drive and determination with me.
“Their unwavering love for the game is truly special,” he said.
The team is putting in hours for Durban and beyond.
“The ladies all come to practice in the evening after a long, hard day at work or, for some of them who are students, school,” said Fourie.
“They are the queens of balancing their lives.
“Our motivation is working towards achieving a place at the 2021 World Cup. That is the dream.
“We are such a tight knit unit that we continually motivate each other and draw inspiration from one another.
“Everyone knows what needs to be done, so we just get on with it.”
Fourie added that the Durban series is important as a platform to build for the future.
“In an ideal world, preparations should involve all facets of sports science and high performance.
Unfortunately, we don’t have that so we do the best we can with what’s available to us.
“Looking at the bigger picture – specifically the Africa Cup next year April – our ideal preparation would be this series coming up and hopefully another by the end of the year.
“Being exposed to high level competition and playing regularly is the best preparation,” said Fourie.
