HOCKEY Association of Zimbabwe will host a regional tournament as part of their preparations for the Under-21 women’s team ahead of their participation at this year’s World Cup to be held in Chile.

The association’s president Humphrey Chigwedere yesterday told the Herald that the tournament will help give the girls the platform they need to keep in shape as part of the build up to the global event which takes place in November.

Chigwedere said they have a programme in place for the girls and called on the corporate world to invest more in the sport, which continues to suffer under the current economic hardships.

“The team is not in camp as the tournament dates are still far ahead and most of the selected preliminary team members are outside the country at Universities. Local based players train every weekend but during semester breaks, all team members come to Harare for training.

“To keep the girls in shape, we are inviting regional countries to come here in Zimbabwe for a regional competition in August since it is still a long way to go to Chile,” said Chigwedere.

Zimbabwe and South Africa are the only two teams from Africa to have qualified for the tournament and will be part of the 16 teams from around the world that will be battling it out for honours at this year’s jamboree to be held in Chile from November 24.

The squad is expected to leave the country a week before the start of the tournament either via Brazil or Cape Town in order to acclimatize.

Zimbabwe last qualified for the women’s Under-21 Junior World Cup Hockey in 2005, ironically in Chile again. The team finished number 13 out of 16 participants.

Chigwedere said that they look forward to improve the previous record at this year’s tournament with better preparations.

“We are aiming to better our 2005 position this time around. The players are raring to go. Players to look out for in the preliminary team include the captain, Stacey Campbell,” said Chigwedere.

However, sponsorship remains an issue with hockey. They are aiming to send 25 athletes to Chile.

“As an organization, we don’t have enough resources like all sports associations. We have had to put together a fundraising committee to approach the corporate world specifically for this trip to Chile. We also appeal to the corporate world to come partner us in hockey,” said Chigwedere.