Things are stirring across the vast African continent and that is great news for hockey development.
Where South Africa has been the dominate force in hockey for the past few decades, other nations are now raising their game and challenging to become the continent’s best.
Egypt, Kenya, the old power-house of Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Nigeria – all countries whose national hockey associations are demonstrating an ambition to compete with the world’s best.
The African Hockey Championships have attracted widespread interest across the continent – with seven women’s teams and nine men’s teams taking part in the 2015 event, as opposed to just four teams in each competition in 2013.
At the time of writing this article, Ghana has been one of this year's most improved nations judging by their results so far. Here, we learn a little about how the Ghana Hockey Association has been developing hockey across the country, thanks in part to an initiative that is being rolled out across West Africa and beyond.
The FIH Target Assistance Programme (TAP) aims to develop sustainable hockey projects worldwide, bringing together a range of partners to make something amazing happen.
The Ghana project is a collaboration between FIH, the African Hockey Federation, Ghana Hockey Association, England Hockey and UK Sport, alongside a number of other partners.
The aim is sustainable hockey at grass-roots and high performance level in Ghana primarily, but spreading across West Africa.
Mike Joyce, FIH project leader, said it is “gold standard” and is showcasing partnership work at its very best. And Cath Sweet, project leader for UK Sport, said: "This kind of success across the project areas and in such a short time frame is fantastic and not the norm for international development projects of this kind."
With a large number of groups working together a very strategic approach is necessary to get the best from each partner around the table.
Lucy Rowe, England Hockey Relationship Manager explains: "There’s a real chance that Ghana could qualify for Rio 2016, which would be amazing, but we must be careful how we approach the next two years. It would be easy to get swept away with Olympic fever and use the £30,000 given annually by UK Sport to fund the national team and their Olympic journey. But that would leave nothing for grassroots development."
Instead, the partnership is planning a well-structured four-year programme that aims to grow the game, not just in Ghana but across West Africa.
The coaching and umpiring team of Darren Cheesman, Mark Jarvis and Siegfried Aikman have visited Ghana and also been heavily involved in Ghana's recent trip to England, but this is where their involvement will scale back.
"We have worked with the coaches as well as the players so they will have the knowledge to continue the work," says Cheesman. “And we will continue to give online support, but we have to let them run with it now.”
The English Institute of Sport (EIS) has taken the same tactic. Fitness coaches took the team through strenuous training, but mindful of the lack of equipment in Ghana, all the exercises involved using their own bodyweight. "The irony is," says Rowe, “all the players have smart phones or tablets, so we can send them online programmes, but they don't have equipment."
The lack of equipment, particularly sticks and goalkeeping equipment, is being addressed through another partnership. Hockey clubs in England are donating equipment and thousands of sticks are being collected. Rowe is in talks with a shipping company to transport the goods and Barrington Sports are storing and renewing the sticks.
The project is a part of England Hockey’s bid to host the Women’s World Cup in 2018. Paying tribute to all the partners involved, England Hockey CEO Sally Munday says: “This partnership is much wider than just England and Ghana Hockey as it has included amazing support from UK Sport, FIH and the African Hockey Federation. We feel really privileged to have had the opportunity to work with Ghana on this project.”
To find out more about the Ghana TAP project, including their recent visit to England, click here.
