Zimbabwe Men's National Field Hockey Team
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The Zimbabwe men's national field hockey team is the team that represents
Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
in the sport of
field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...
. Field hockey has the second biggest player base in the country after football. Currently, Zimbabwe has four pitches, two in
Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...
– one water base and one sand filled – and another sand filled at the Arundel School and water base at St John's College in the capital city of
Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...
. Bulawayo has approximately 1,000 hockey players and Harare 8,000. The 5,000-capacity Khumalo Hockey Stadium in
Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...
is their home stadium. Field hockey club Skies Hockey Club also use the venue for home games. They are currently ranked 61st in International hockey ranking. While the country had a tradition in the sport, they struggled in recent times largely due to their inability to participate in international competitions organized by the
African Hockey Federation African Hockey Federation (AfHF) is the continental Sports governing body, governing body of field hockey in Africa. It is affiliated by International Hockey Federation and has 25 member nations. It bi-annually organizes Hockey African Cup for Na ...
(AfHF) and the
International Hockey Federation The International Hockey Federation, commonly known by the acronym FIH, is the international governing body of field hockey and indoor field hockey. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland. FIH is responsible for field hockey's major int ...
(FIH), until the Khumalo Hockey Stadium was refurbished and played host to the 2011 African Olympic Qualifier. The governing body for field hockey is
Hockey Association of Zimbabwe The Hockey Association of Zimbabwe or HAZ is the sports governing body, governing body of field hockey in Zimbabwe. Its headquarters are in Harare, Zimbabwe. It is affiliated to IHF International Hockey Federation and AHF African Hockey Federatio ...
. It was formed in 1925.


Medals table


History


Early years

Back when the country was
Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...
, the national hockey team qualified for the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo after beating the
United Arab Republic The United Arab Republic (UAR; ) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 to 1971. It was initially a short-lived political union between Republic of Egypt (1953–1958), Egypt (including Occupation of the Gaza Strip by the United Ara ...
. Team captain Lloyd Koch was Rhodesia's flag bearer, and the team won one game against New Zealand. Koch scored two goals in the tournament.


1980s – Rise in Africa after Independence

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
got independence in 1980. Soon after independence, various attempts were made to establish sports in the country. Women's team won the inaugural Gold medal in 1980 Olympics. Men's team picked the graph and went on to perform decent in the International games. They won silver and bronze medals in 1987 and 1991
All-Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa and the ...
respectively. The team also bagged bronze medal in Hockey African Cup for Nations in 2000 by defeating
Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
. They managed to hold a strong position in the African continent for almost two decades.


Decline and re-establishment

Zimbabwe saw a drought in sports after the year 2000. They couldn't manage to maintain their spot in the African region and fall down to sixth in the continental ranking. To revive the game of hockey in the country, 2011 African Olympic Qualifier were organised in Zimbabwe. But the problem was the stadium was not ready by that time.
Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
asked help from
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. On 8 July 2011 The Hockey Association of Zimbabwe announced that the ship with the containers holding the new carpet for the Khumalo Hockey Stadium (KHS) was due to dock in Durban, South Africa. Chairman of the Hockey Olympic Qualifiers local organising committee Gavin Stephens said in a statement that the carpet should be delivered to Bulawayo by 16 July. "This will keep the project on course for commissioning by the end of July. It is understood that the Ministry of Public Works is rushing to meet the deadline, with their work schedule lagging behind." In response to a call from the Matabeleland Hockey Board (MHB), approximately 60–70 people arrived at the Khumalo Hockey Stadium on Saturday, 2 July 2011. About 20 of these were labourers from Petra School, Burger & McBean and Precast Concrete Products. The other 50 were made up of hockey players, parents of hockey players, and members of general public. The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, David Coltart, arrived to lend his support, while both current and former national and provincial hockey players were also present. Zimbabwe performed poorly in the tournament and lost 4 out of 5 games with a draw against Morocco. Later on, Zimbabwe hosted African Hockey Club of Championship in 2014 and won silver medal after losing to
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
by 7–0.


2015–2018

Since then, Zimbabwe are regularly organizing local competitions and events. They registered their biggest win in 2015 African Olympic Qualifier by defeating Botswana by 19–0. Matthew Williams scored record 6 goals in the game, becoming first Zimbabwean ever to score more than 5 goals in a match. He emerged as highest scorer for Zimbabwe in the tournament by scoring 11 goals. In 2018, Zimbabwe played a 5 match test series against their arch rivals
Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
and lost all the games. Tendayi Maredza, who is currently the skipper of the team is regarded as one of the finest players in the African continent. Maredza was included in the International XI side that toured
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
in 2016. Pritchard Matambo has emerged as the unsung hero having defended the team for more than a decade.


2018–19 Men's Hockey Series Open

The 2018–19 Men's Hockey Series Open was the first stage of the 2018–19 edition of the Hockey Series. It was held from June to December 2018. Zimbabwe participated and hosted the Bulawayo pool. Despite being the hosts, the Chevrons failed to qualify for the Olympic qualifiers and lost the spot to
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. Tatenda Kanyangarara emerged as highest scorer for Zimbabwe.


Tournament history


Summer Olympics

*
1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...
– 12th place


Friendship Games

*
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...


African Games

*
1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...
– *
1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
– *
1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
– 4th place *
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
– 4th place *
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
– 5th place


Hockey Africa Cup of Nations

* 1989 – 4th place * 1993 – 4th place * 1996 – 4th place * 2000 –


African Olympic Qualifiers

*
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
– 5th place *
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
– 6th place *
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
– 4th place *
2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
– 8th place


Central-South Africa Qualifier for the Africa Cup of Nations

*
2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...


Current squad

Head Coach: A Five


Notable former players

* Dave Houghton * Lloyd Koch * John McPhun * Robert Ullyett * Collin Williams *
Michael McKillop Michael Gerard McKillop (born 27 January 1990 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland) is an Irish middle distance runner. He competes in the T37 disability sport classification, as he has a mild form of cerebral palsy. He won the 800m title at the ...
* Matthew Williams * Louis Mnyama * Donald Mutupo


See also

*
Zimbabwe women's national field hockey team The Zimbabwe women's national field hockey team is the national women's team representing Zimbabwe in field hockey. It Zimbabwe women's national field hockey team at the 1980 Summer Olympics, won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Mos ...
* Rhodesian field hockey players


References


External links


Hockey Association of Zimbabwe
{{National sports teams of Zimbabwe
Field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...
National team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...
African men's national field hockey teams