SA hockey team to use Africa Games to prepare for Olympic Games

Between the 15th and the 22nd of March, Gie’s team will compete against Ghana, Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya in the round-robin, where they are widely expected to clinch the gold medal.

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Gie has assembled a formidable 18-member squad for this highly anticipated event.

''This All Africa Games -  really helps us with Olympic preparations, it gives us more time to be together as a team, although some of our senior players are unavailable due to club commitments in Europe.

"We are giving some of our talent squad members an opportunity to play so they can stand a chance to be selected for the Olympics,'' said Gie.

However, Gie finds himself frustrated by the tight schedule he faces in gathering the necessary time to address the several elements of their game plan before the commencement of the Africa Games.

''The preparation for the camp is not going too smoothly, unfortunately there is not much preparation time available for the team. Also, getting the team together as they are all over the country and some are based in Europe - it will be very difficult for us to prepare as a team. 

“But we have a few days in Ghana Accra and we will use that time to prepare,'' added Gie.

The directive from SA hockey is crystal clear; aim for nothing short of reaching the final in Accra and bring home either gold or silver medals.

''Our objectives would be to at least reach the final, I think the team has come a long way just looking at the four matches we played in January in Cape Town - we lost against the world number 1 the Dutch, we also lost to world number 2 India (3 - 0) and then we had some good results in the two friendly matches.

''So the team is optimistic about what we can achieve at the All Africa Games, we aim to get to the final,'' he concluded.

The camp is brimming with joy in this Olympic year as everyone eagerly anticipates thrilling matches against some of the continent’s top-ranked teams.

Next month, the team will convene for camp in preparation for their first match against Nigeria, scheduled for the 15th of March on the newly renovated atro turf in Accra.