The Tanzania Hockey Association (THA) has released a six-team 2015 Mapinduzi Hockey Cup tournament fixture.
The tournament, also known as the national club championship, is scheduled for March 20 to 22 at the Lugalo Barracks Ground in Dar es Salaam.
Organised by the Dar es Salaam Regional Hockey Association (DRHA) in collaboration with the Tanzania Hockey Association (THA), competition involves four men’s and two ladies teams.
THA secretary Kaushik Doshi told the ‘Daily News’ yesterday that preparations have been finalized and that the six teams that have already confirmed to take part will battle it out in two groups — A and B.
“Everything is in order and all the participating teams are busy training for the tournament,” he said. Group A comprises last year’s finalists Dar Khalsa, Magereza and Tanzania Peoples’ Defense Forces (TPDF) ladies.
Teams in Group B are TPDF men, University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) and Tanzania Twende ladies. Notable absentees are defending champions Moshi Khalsa, who won the title last year, after beating Dar Khalsa 3-0 in the final. Magereza will open their campaign against debutants TPDF ladies in the trend-setter on Friday.
The clash will be be followed by a tie between TPDF men and UDSM, who are also taking part for the first time. Two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals on Sunday before the final.
Doshi said this year’s edition is sponsored by two Dar es Salaam-based firms — Reliance Insurance Company and R.K. Trucking Co.
He noted that regular and aged players are vanishing from the hockey scene and there is massive vaccum left behind. “We urgently need to fill the gap and we hope our initiative will help,” he said.
“We heavily bank on a development hockey project being undertaken under coaches Valentina Quaraanta and Mnonda Magani.”
Doshi said they have introduced hockey at the grassroots level and the game is currently being played in several schools, but conceded that it will take some time to bring hockey back to its glory.
Source Tanzania Daily News