The Kenya Ladies Hockey team Alias the Blades will be making a debut in the upcoming commonwealth games slated to take place from 29 July to 8 August 2022 in Birmingham, England.
The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), through the President of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K), notified the Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) that in accordance with the published Hockey Athlete Allocation System (Version 2) for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, both the CGF and the International Hockey Federation (FIH) officially confirm Kenya’s qualification through “Reallocation – Direct Qualification” method. to participate in the Female Hockey Event.
‘Qualification in hockey is based on FIH World Ranking, with the Kenya women’s team ranked 3rd in Africa behind South Africa and Ghana. Kenya now joins their counterparts, Ghana to compete at the Commonwealth Games, the two nations having received reallocation slots that were not taken up by the top internationally ranked teams,’ explained Kenya Hockey Union President, Col (Rtd) Nashon Randiek.
Col (Rtd) Randiek added that ‘The team has been very disciplined and hard-working. This was evident from their results at the recently concluded African Cup despite the challenges we faced, they deserve to represent the country at the Commonwealth Games. For that we are delighted to receive the news that they have indeed qualified, focus now shifts to adequate preparation.’
