The Zimbabwe Under-21 women team is pleading for support from the corporate world following their qualification for the 2025 Hockey Junior World Cup which will take place in Santiago , Chile in December.
It is the fourth consecutive World Cup appearance for the team and sixth overall after claiming third place at the Junior Africa Cup (JAC) which took place in Namibia last month.
South Africa and hosts Namibia grabbed the two other World Cup places after finishing first and second, respectively at the continental championship.
“Now that we have qualified, we are going to require a lot of funding to get to Chile. We are reaching out to corporates or individuals who would be generous enough to sponsor the team, not just the travelling but also the kit, equipment and training costs,” coach Brad Heur told this publication.
Heur was full of praise for the team effort in their successful qualification campaign.
“I’m really proud of the girls for their performance at the Junior Africa Cup. We didn’t finish where we would have liked to, but we knew that third place also qualify, so we accomplished what we went there to do.
“The girls played well in patches, but too many unforced errors cost us goals. The experience was a major factor for these errors," he said.
Heur said the World Cup is important for Zimbabwe hockey and Zimbabwe as a whole because it’s a chance to showcase the abilities and the hard work that the team has put in.
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Zimbabwe kicked off their Junior Africa Cup campaign with a 8 - 1 win over Zambia before falling 6 - 0 to Namibia and bouncing back with a 5 - 1 victory over Uganda.
They then found South Africa too strong, losing 5 - 0 but a 4 - 1 triumph over Kenya in the final Pool match was enough to take the team to the third and fourth place playoff.
The World Cup ticket was sealed by a dominant 6 - 1 win over Uganda in the playoffs.
A total of 24 teams will for the first time take part on the Junior World Cup, an increase from the usual 16.
Some of the teams that will feature at the Junior World Cup include Argentina, United States of America, Uruguay, Cananda, Austria, Belgium, England, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Wales, Scotland, India, China, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Namibia, South Africa and the hosts Chile among other.
The biennial women's under-21 field hockey world championship is organised by the International Hockey Federation.
