Ghana add glow to Lee Valley

The Ghana national women’s team visited the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre as part of their two-week visit to England, brightening a wet and windy morning in London.

The team has been based at England Hockey ‘s headquarters at Bisham Abbey, where they have received skills and tactics coaching with some of the England Hockey coaching staff, led by former England player Darren Cheeseman and Seigfried Aikman, former coach to top ranking Dutch clubs, Den Bosch and HGC. The team has also been taken through their paces by the specialist strength and conditioning team at the English Institute of Sport (EIS) and has played a number of fixtures against regional and national teams.

The visit is all part of the FIH Target Assisted Programme, which supports national federations to get involved with promoting hockey in countries where facilities, equipment and knowledge of the game are in the early stages of development.

“We have just learned so much and also realised we still have so much to learn,” was the verdict of Elizabeth Opoko, one of the rising stars in this Ghana team.

“This team’s potential is frightening,” was the verdict of Cheeseman as he assessed the team’s progress.

The TAP project involves a number of partnerships: it is driven by the International Hockey Federation, facilitated by England Hockey, partially funded by UK Sport and supported by a number of other partners, such as Barrington Sports, EIS and a host of other companies and organisations.

The visit to Lee Valley fulfilled two purposes. On the one hand the players were able to watch four matches at the Unibet EuroHockey Championships involving some of the best women’s teams in Europe; and secondly each player received a new stick from the latest partners to get on board the project – Ritual Sports.

The sticks were presented by Santi Freixa, the former Spanish international who is currently assistant coach to the Netherlands women’s side. “There comes a time in a player’s career where they start to ask questions and want to give back to the sport that has provided so many chances. That is why this is a great project.”

The TAP project has been praised by Cath Sweet of UK Sport for its long-term aims and current achievements. “These players are the coaches of the future, so this programme in empowering them to make a difference. We never envisaged the project moving forwards so quickly, it is a real surprise in the most positive way possible.”