Mid this month, the Kenyan Hockey Union held its elections and elected new officials with a couple of them retaining their positions. The chair was re-elected as was the Secretary. New office bearers were seen in most of the other positions.
I would be quick to congratulate them and wish them well in their future undertakings. A few things though need sorting out;
Hockey expansion programmes- currently hockey is played in Nairobi though there are 2 other cities Mombasa and Kisumu which even have clubs in the national league. Any plans for further expansion? In the same vein, can we distinguish between professional teams/clubs and institutional clubs (university and college) to provide a systematic way of graduating from one league to the other?
Hockey venues- currently we only have one astro- turf stadium at City Park, any plans for one or two more of such venues? This would aid in expanding the game beyond the city limits.
Participation in international games- our teams have fallen from grace in the last 20 years save for the occasional times we have participated in the women’s world cup and the junior continental championships. We can aim for the 2012 Olympic Games qualification if it’s not too ambitious or can we start with a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2010? Just checking
Corporate sponsorship- I have been to a couple of games at the City Park and other local venues and one thing is very conspicuous, lack of corporate branding. Being a game played and enjoying the support of the Asian community locally, we can’t conjure up something to convince them to pay a few Kshs to sell the game to local audiences and thereby afford a better pay cheque to the players?
Chairman Mr. Bain and Secretary Mr. Kiruma , that can set you rolling for the coming year.
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