A Lusaka-based hockey player and coach has commended the Hockey Dreams Foundation for its dedication to promoting the sport in the country.
Speaking in an interview, Spring Fields Team Captain Godfrey Lwando said the foundation has done tremendous work in promoting coaches and young people interested in hockey.
The foundation helps us in many ways such as providing equipment and sponsoring the studies of coaches,
Lwando.
He further said there are currently 15 coaches working hand in hand with the foundation, of which 10 are being sponsored through its ‘Back to School’ policy.
Coaches who stopped school are enrolled back to complete their education and are also sponsored at tertiary level if they do well,
he said.
Lwando is currently in his twelfth grade at New Matero Secondary School in Lusaka.
Meanwhile, the foundation’s first female coach and beneficiary Martha Kalomo said it has helped her career take off as a sportswoman and also find formal employment.
Through the allowances and support I received from the foundation, my family and I have been helped,
Kalomo.
She explained that coaches selected to be sponsored are allowed to pursue careers of their choice and are at liberty to leave the foundation and pave way for others.
Kalomo praised the efforts of the coaches and players involved in promoting the sport.
Hockey has been growing and as you know, we have appeared in the Olympic games twice and are now preparing for the Africa Cup tournament qualifier to be held in Zimbabwe next year,
she said.
The coach added that she is working hard towards being part of the Hockey Women’s national team.
Kalomo has since called on the media to take keen interest in the sport and support it.
The Hockey Dreams Foundation is a Non-Governmental Organisation formed in 2011 whose headquarters are in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
It promotes hockey through training coaches and young players from the age of three to 16 in aims of creating better communities through the sport.
Zambia, Malawi and Uganda are the only countries in Africa that are part of the foundation.