Senior Hockey National Teams in high spirits as they take to the turf to prepare for the Ghana slated AFCON

By Daniels N. Tatya

Player after player looks set and in high spirits as they started preps for an African Hockey big do next year. Local hockey governing body, Uganda Hockey Association (UHA) will field its senior national teams, both men and women, in the Africa Cup of Nations (ACN) slated to puck drop in January 2022 in Accra, Ghana.

Ugandan sides earned tickets to the continental showpiece when they confirmed participation in the Northeast Africa Cup of Nations (ACN) Hockey Qualifiers that were bound to take place in March 2021 in Nairobi, Kenya. 

The tournament was originally meant to be graced by six nations, fielding both male and female teams but only Kenya and Uganda confirmed participation hence they automatically qualified for the ACN because only two teams per gender were meant to make the cut from the week-long qualifier.

According to Uganda Hockey’s roadmap and activity plan for the ACN, if all goes well as planned, especially on financial grounds, the contingent will depart for the tournament on 28th December.

Local association had been busy arranging and strengthening the national team set up as they hired services of new team Managers and Head Coaches (both Men and Women), Goalkeeping Coach, Team Doctor and Physiotherapist. 

Over fifty players are undergoing a non-residential training at the Lugogo hockey turf. The final squads comprising of 36 players in total will be announced in December this year.

On 20th December, the teams and entire Ghana bound contingent will enter a residential camp and will depart on 28th December. The tournament will run from 2nd to 9th January 2022 in Accra, Ghana. 

The Africa Cup of Nations and the pre-tournament congress (The Africa Hockey Federation-AfHF congress) were meant to be held in September this year but was postponed because of the uncertainty posed by Covid-19.