Set in motion, The Hockey World League Round 1, Accra 2016, on Wednesday 31st August 2016 at 11:00am was officially introduced to public with a very huge media presence. Over 40 media houses were present to witness the official outdooring of Ghana’s biggest hockey event hosted since 2012. On the day some sponsors were also spotted for the first time with a few of them partnering hockey for the first time. Notable among our sponsors are; 1. Vodafone Ghana Limited 2. Esan Loco 3. SBC Beverages (Pepsi) 4. Mohinani Group (Polytank) 5. Accra Brewery Limited Also present was the Executive Board of the Ghana Hockey Association and the Honorable Minster of Youth and Sports. Players and officials of the National Team were also officially introduced to the world for the first time in all their glory and poise to make their nation proud, led by Captains; Gertrude Inkoom and Nsalbini Salya. We have great hopes for our gallant men and women and are truly grateful to all who came and would continue to support Ghana Hockey. Special thanks to the media… We would meet again when we emerge victorious on 11th September. Tournament date: 9th to 11th September 2016.

THE Hockey Association of Zimbabwe have set September 24 as the date for their general meeting that is expected to usher in a new executive to run the association for the next two years. As the current executive’s term of office comes to an end this month all posts will be up for grabs at the Indaba at Chispite Senior School. Humphrey Chigwedere is the incumbent president while the other members are secretary-general Sarah Bennett, treasurer Gavin Stephens, committee members; Tongai Mukwewa, Prince Mwale, William Birkett and Nicola Watson. Chigwedere, who was elected the association’s vice-president in 2014, took over when Mark Manolios resigned. “This year’s agm is an elective one and all members have been informed in terms of the current HAZ constitution. “We are supposed to be eight but we did not replace the vice-president last year. But this year we will have a full executive. All posts are up for grabs. Nominations are supposed to have started coming in and I think they should be in 14 days before the annual general meeting,” said Chigwedere. The association has also scheduled the HAZ Cup for the same weekend as well as the awards ceremony. The tournament is slated for September 24 to 25 at Arundel. The men and women’s event, which targets clubs from all provinces will see the winning teams in each section earning the ticket to represent Zimbabwe at the Club Championships early next year. “It’s a club tournament, that’s what we use to choose our representatives for the Club Championships. It’s a premier club tournament, we take the top teams from each province. “We have four provinces that are more active; Midlands, Masvingo, Harare and Bulawayo. But those that are still developing and are playing hockey they can send their teams. So we might have two extra slots this year because Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland West are likely to send teams,” said Chigwedere. The outgoing president said they will be honouring the team of the year, senior player of the year, most promising player, junior player of the year, administrator of the year and journalist of the year. “There is also the president’s award whereby the sitting president will just award someone or people based on what he thought they would have contributed,” said Chigwedere. Hippo Valley are the men’s defending champions for the annual HAZ Cup and BAC are the reigning champions in the women’s section. Source: Ellina Mhlanga : Sports Reporter (The Herald) – September 3, 2016

Chase and Amira Sailors will by the end of the year have their own playing ground that has been donated by Hurley Club from the Netherlands and will be setup at Sikh union grounds at a cost 700,000 Euros. The ground breaking of the took place on Saturday 30th July 2016 and paves way for Raicon contractors to start the work. The turf left Netherlands beginning of July and is expected to arrive anytime this month. Chase Bank who are the sponsors for the two club have entered into a tripartite agreement with Hurley Club and Sikh Union Nairobi (Nairobi Simba) which will see the 3 clubs not only benefit from the turf donation but also exchange programs between the three clubs. Upon completion Amira Sailors, Chase Sailors and Sikh Union will now be playing their League home matches there. This will be the second turf in county in addition to the one at City Park. The one at City Park was laid 8 years and is dilapidated. KHU Chairman, retired Colonel, Nashon Randiek has welcomed the move and lauded saying it is good for the sport.