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By Augustine Hwata
ACTION in the Harare Hockey Board’s indoor league is in full swing with the staging of the third day of the games this evening at Sunrise Sports Club.
The HHB’s indoor league roared into life on Monday with 10 teams in the men’s league while there are seven women’s sides.
Sunrise are fielding two sides in the men’s league in Sunrise A and Sunrise B while Eradicators have three sides.
Eradicators Mbare, Eradicators National and Eradicators Mufakose have been split to help spread the game.
Hockey Club is made up of players who are past their best but will try to make up for their lack of pace with their skills and experience.
Enthusiastics, Old George and Universals are also playing in the men’s league.
Sunrise Chicks, Chelsea Drifters, Manolios Scorpions, Double Drifters, Sting-hers, Extreme Pros and Eradicators form the women’s league.
Mabvuku, Banket and UZ, who played in the league in the previous season, have not come on board this time for the six-a-side version of the game.
One match was played on Monday with Sunrise Chicks beating Chelsea Drifters 2-1 in a women’s league game while the men’s tie between Sunrise A and Eradicators Mbare was postponed.
The second round of action was on Tuesday with Manolios Scorpions thumping Double Drifters 8-2 in a women’s clash.
Universals fell 3-7 to Eradicators Mufakose, in the other game, however, Eradicators National were not as lucky when they lost 4-1 to Enthusiasts.
The main tie this evening is likely to be the one pitting Sunrise against Eradicators Mbare
Sunrise is mainly made up of players from Ridgeview and they will be banking on the home crowd to spur them on.
Sting-hers face Extreme Pros in the women’s league in another game pencilled for tonight to mark the end of the first round of the games.
The indoor games will be played on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next 14 weeks.
Tapiwa Mwakalyelye, the publicity officer for the HHB, said a lot of new faces have come for the indoor games and she hopes the interest will continue to grow.
“We just started the games on Monday and I must say the turnout was really appreciated.
“It’s only the start and I hope more people will come as more games are played. This is the indoor season and basically we play the first rounds during the first seven weeks then we play the second round during the last seven weeks,” said Mwakalyelye.
While the indoor hockey league in Harare has taken off, there is still no solution in sight for the repairing of the astro-turf at both the Khumalo and the Magamba Stadiums.