Following their appearance at the 2013 African Cup for Nations, Tanzania’s national women’s hockey team took part in their second international competition at the Hockey World League Round 1 tournament in Nairobi, Kenya. The Tanzanian team gained valuable experience playing against teams such as Ghana and Kenya who have a long hockey tradition behind them.
Post tournament, the challenge for the Hockey Tanzania project to develop women’s hockey in Tanzania continues. With no organisational structure, tournaments are sporadic and even then, not all teams can participate due to lack of funds. Additionally, in Nairobi, some of the players saw a turf pitch for the first time and had to quickly adapt to playing on it.
However looking to the future, hockey started being played in some schools in and around Dar es Salaam earlier this year and at the World League Round 1 in Nairobi, three ‘veteran’ players took part whilst the rest of the team was made up of players who had started playing less than five months ago.
Valentina Quaranta who trains the national women’s team states: “Lack of funds, fields, equipment and coaches, poverty, this is what we have to face every day. Alone we won’t make it, but with some support from public sport authorities, federation and local sponsors, little by little a long distance can be covered. Other African countries accomplished unthinkable results, see how Ghana managed to develop the game, why not Tanzania?”
