The Sunday Mail
ZIMBABWE’S two representatives to the Africa Cup of Hockey Club Championships, set for Bulawayo next month, are in urgent need of $30 000.
Hippo Hockey Club and Eradicators Hockey Club will represent the country at the championships which were initially supposed to be held in Nigeria but had to be moved to Zimbabwe following the Ebola outbreak.
Already club champions from Ghana, Malawi, Zambia, and Nigeria have confirmed their participation while Kenya and African powerhouses Egypt are yet to confirm.
While qualification for the tourney was greeted with cheer in both camps, the demands of preparing for the continental show piece are proving to be daunting.
The two clubs have since set up a joint fund-raising committee as they seek to raise the required money ahead of a tourney which runs from 22-30 November.
Hippo’s Tendai Maredza disclosed that the two clubs need $28 840 to enable them to participate at the championships.
“The money will cater for uniforms and related equipment, accommodation, transport and tournament levies,” he said.
Fellow fund-raising committee member Tawedzegwa Chandenga, of Eradicators, highlighted that the tournament is Africa’s flagship club tournament whose winners qualify for the World Club Cup.
“We implore the corporate world to come on board and partner the two clubs because this is a very big continental tourney.
“The tournament winners will also qualify for the World Club Championships so I think as a country we ought to take this seriously as it is a gateway to bigger things in terms of sports development for the country,” said Maredza.
Hippo Hockey won the national league in August to qualify for the tournament while Eradicators booked their place thanks to their triumph in the Hockey Association of Zimbabwe Cup.
