Hockey: Touring Ghana team to play local friendlies
Edmond Makona (foreground) of Kenya Police shields the ball from Wazalendo's Kennedy Munialo during their Kenya Hockey Union men Premier League match at City Park Stadium, Nairobi on December 1, 2019.
What you need to know:
- The 2022 Commonwealth Games are primed for July 28 to August 8.
- The friendly series start on Saturday and will run until Thursday.
Fresh from winning the just-concluded Sapholda Hockey League Gala in Accra, Ghanaian team Exchequers are in the country for a series of friendly matches at the Sikh Union Hockey Stadium in Nairobi.
The Ghanaian side, which arrived in the country Friday morning, will play Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) Premier League sides Kenya Police, Strathmore University Gladiators and United States International University - Africa (USIU-A).
The friendly series start on Saturday and will run until Thursday.
Sapholda Hockey League Gala, which ended last Tuesday, brought together clubs which participate in the Ghana League.
Exchequers defeated Ghana Revenue Authority 2-0 on post-match penalty flicks after both teams had played to a barren draw.
KHU Vice chairperson, Elyna Shiveka, said various factors were considered before they settled on the three teams to play the visitors.
“Exchequers wrote to the union requesting for a series of friendly matches against our clubs. We are aware some of the clubs have players who are training with the national team, while some of the clubs are not based in Nairobi and those are some of the reasons that led us to settle on the three clubs, discipline notwithstanding,” offered Shiveka.
“Exchequers are using the friendly matches to prepare for the Ghana Hockey Association League scheduled to kick off on May 5,” added Shiveka.
This is not the first time Exchequers are playing a series of friendly matches against Kenyan sides. They were in the country in 2019 and played friendly matches against Sikh Union, Wazalendo, GreenSharks and Parkroad.
Exchequers, formerly Bank of Ghana, are two-time Africa Cup of Club Champions silver medalists.
KHU Leagues
Premier, Super and National leagues have taken a break this weekend to pave way for the men’s and women’s national teams which are training ahead of next month’s North African qualifiers scheduled for Kenya.
Shiveka said the five-day training at the City Park Stadium in Nairobi will help the technical bench to whittle down the provisional squads.
“The teams will have two sessions each day from Friday all the way to Tuesday. The men’s team which has 50 players will be cut down to 30 while the women’s side that has 45 players will be reduced to 30 players,” said Shiveka.
“But more emphasis is on the women’s team that is preparing for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham,” Shiveka added.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games are primed for July 28 to August 8.
