The National Women’s ‘Blades’ Hockey team has begun their residential training in preparation for the upcoming Commonwealth Games. The games are slated for July 28th through 8th August 2022 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. They will reside in Kasarani with a provisional squad of 30 ladies in camp from which a final team of 18 will eventually be picked to travel to carry the Kenyan Flag.
“We are currently working on adjusting into systems that will get us results because we realize the kind of opposition we are going to face is not the one we are used to playing in Africa. I think our training is going on as per our plans and moving forward we will test with different opposition for us to get even better” Video Coach Meshack Senge shared the preparations of the team and plans.
The Blades who have been drawn in Pool B will open their campaign on July 29 against defending champions New Zealand, before taking on 2014 winners Australia then play Scotland and wrap it up in an all-African affair against South Africa.
“So far training has been good for us, we have been training since we qualified and now that we are together in camp it means more training time and also bond more as well as gel as a team because we are a team sport. I would like to thank the Ministry of Sports and the National Olympic Committee of Kenya for making the camp a reality,” said Marylyne Wabomba
It is noteworthy that this is the first time Kenya will be competing at the Games which are just 62 days away.
Their qualification comes at a time when the gender mainstreaming conversation is in high gear in our sports fraternity and we acknowledge it plays a significant role in ensuring we get to where we want in as far as bridging the gender parity gap in sports representation and participation is concerned. More women’s team qualifying will ensure equal gender representation.
