Local hockey giants Hippo feel they are now ripe for continental glory having dominated the domestic competition for the past three years by winning the National League as many times.

Hippo cruised to victory in the opening round of the National League fixtures in Bulawayo last week, and are on course for fourth straight title but their sights are on the African Club Championships set for December.

Captain Kanyiwe Tafuma said they are using the local league as a warm up to the tougher African competition.

“We are training towards the African Club Championships honestly,” he said.

“We have been winning the National League for years, we started well last week and I believe we will win it again,” said the centre back.

The venue for the ACC is yet to be confirmed.

Hippo finished a disappointing fifth in a seven team tournament held in Zambia last year with a win, a draw and two defeats.

However, Tafuma believes with a sharper frontline, Hippo can put up a better show this time around.

“We were disappointing the last time, but it’s in the past now, guys want to correct the mistakes from last year,” he said.

“Scoring seems to be a national problem in many sports, we defend well but we are not scoring many goals.

“It is a weakness, but we will continue working on that aspect (scoring), we won’t give up on it,” said the captain.

Hippo were in top form during last week’s National League where they won all of their three matches.