The Sunday Mail
Don Makanyanga
Sport Reporter
DESPITE the impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on sport, Zimbabwe’s men’s and women’s teams have not been deterred in their preparations as they seek to qualify for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations hockey tournament.
Zimbabwe have instead intensified their preparations, but captain Tendai Maredza revealed that it has not been an easy ride training under the new normal occasioned by Covid-19.
“This camp has been quite different, it is the new normal with Covid-19 so we missed a couple of months of training because of lockdown and waiting for permission from authorities. It’s been tough. We have been trying to get people fit through online classes. This one has been a different one, but there was nothing we could do, but adjust to the new normal and at least now we have resumed training on the astro-turf,” said Maredza.
With the national team having started training on the Arundel School’s astro-turf, which will be the host venue for the Nations Cup qualifiers, Maredza and his troops are trying to make the most of the time they have before the games begin in February.
“We are now trying to get more hours on the turf and also to do a bit of catching up as we get ourselves ready for the tournament,” said Maredza.
With Maredza leading the players in the online classes, national team coach Niall Milner praised his charges for their dedication in “difficult times.”
“We started off with home training plans for all our players because of the pandemic and the lockdown restrictions. This meant that the players were responsible for a lot of their own workouts for eight or so months.
“We asked our players for discipline and dedication towards their personal growth and most of our lads have responded well under the current restrictions.
“We have a very enthusiastic and hard-working group of players who want to succeed in the sport and represent their country at the highest level. We hope that by the time we get to the competition there will be a proper plan in place that will allow fans to come and enjoy the game of hockey,” said Milner.
In times of adversity and with national pride at stake, it has been a combined effort of coaches in different parts of the country to see Zimbabwe qualify for the 2021 Nations Cup.
“Communication is key to our success and having players spread across three provinces is not easy, we have had assistance from coaches in the provinces affected and they have been following our guidelines and training schedules,” Milner said.
The team has been trimmed from 45 to 30 players who are set to go into a bio-secure bubble.
“The squad has been trimmed from almost 45 players to 30 now and it has always been part of our plans to increase the intensity of our sessions as we approach our key times.
“We have a camp/bio-bubble in our plans. This will hopefully take place during the second week of February, which shall see us through our qualifiers,” said Milner.
