The more things change, the more they remain the same.
In the only international hockey championship that Kenyan teams featured in – the African Olympic qualifiers held in South Africa in August – the women’s and men’s national teams were a pale shadow of themselves.
The men who were hoping to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games for the first time since the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, finished a distant fifth.
South Africa won the title, Egypt were second followed by Ghana and Zimbabwe finished fourth. Namibia were last in the competition.
During the 2016 Rio Olympic Games African qualifier, Kenya finished third behind Egypt and winners South Africa.
In the August Olympic qualifier, the women’s national team settled for fourth position. South Africa won the championship, followed by Ghana, Zimbabwe were third and Namibia were at the bottom.
LOST TO ZIMBABWE
South Africa, Egypt, and to some degree Ghana, have remained Kenya’s bitter rivals. Their wins against the Kenyan teams in the qualifier came as no surprise. But the loss against Zimbabwe was a slap on the face for Kenyans.
The men’s team has had a regular coach, Meshack Senge, for a lengthy period of time. However, the women’s outfit has kept changing tacticians with the latest being Tom Olal, who took over from Willis Otieno during the qualifiers. That being the case, none of the teams sparkled.
Senge picked a young squad for the qualifier and overlooked most of the experienced players in a move that sparked grumbling.
He said: “There is complacency among the older players. It is better to go for the young and ambitious players since it’s that strong mental frame and confidence that I give the players as a coach.”
FINANCIAL PROBLEMS
“Experience is what you can do on the pitch and some of the first caps have in the past done amazingly well,” explained Senge, adding that the youngsters in the team had the passion and desire to perform well.
While there was nothing to show as far as the national teams’ performance was concerned, the clubs didn’t do much either.
Clubs that had qualified for this year’s African Cup for Club Championship held in Egypt pulled out of the event citing financial challenges.
Men’s Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) Premier League champions Butali Sugar Warriors and Kenya Police as well as Blazers, formerly Telkom, and Strathmore University (women) did not honour the championship due to financial problems.
Blazers’ title sponsors Telkom withdrew their support in June, and their effort to get a replacement before the continental championship didn’t yield fruit. As a result, they were unable to defend their title.
The failure by Kenyan teams to feature in the club championships, and especially those held outside the country, has become a norm.
KHU Chairman Nashon Randiek expressed dissatisfaction with the turn of events.
“It can never be business as usual. Who doesn’t know that every top two clubs in each gender in the Premier League have the automatic qualification to feature in the club championship? Therefore, it is sad that clubs frequently give excuses of financial constraints,” he said.
“In future we would like clubs to give feedback well ahead of time if they will not be in a position to participate in the event so that we can give a chance to other teams that are willing and ready to take part.
Butali retained the Premier League title unbeaten with 48 points from 18 matches, as Wazalendo defied odds to finish second ahead of Police with 36 points from the same number of matches.
Wazalendo coach Fidhelis Kimanzi said they will go out of their way to ensure the team participates in next year’s club championship having last played in the event in 2007.
NAIROBI SIKH RELEGATED
Blazers, who have won the women’s Premier League for a record 22 times, booked a ticket for the 2020 club championship. They topped the league with 38 points from 14 matches played.
The other qualifier for the next year’s club championship were United States International University of Africa (USIU-A) who finished second in the league with 29 points.
However, one of the pioneer clubs Nairobi Sikh men’s team suffered a setback when they were relegated to the Super League after finishing second last in the Premier League.
The team had nine points and they managed only one win. Parklands, which finished last with seven points, was also dropped.
On the flip side, Parkroad Badgers and Mombasa Sports Club earned promotion to the Premier League.
On the flip side, Parkroad Badgers and Mombasa Sports Club earned promotion to the Premier League.
In the women’s category, Kenyatta University and Jomo Kenyatta University Agricultural Technology (JKUAT) were relegated to the second division, while DFG Wolverines and Oranje Leonas will start life in the top-tier next season.