In an exclusive interview at the just ended national championships, played at Antelope Park grounds over the weekend, Zimbabwe Association of Polocrosse president Allan Mulloy said the country was taking an early break after an eventful year.
“We have decided to call off the season and the national championships games that we have played wraps up the calendar for the year. This year we participated at the World Cup in South Africa in July, so we need to take a rest. It will also give us time to prepare for the future and direct all our energies towards our bid to host the 2019 World Cup,†he said.
Polocrosse is played on an outdoor field with players mounted on horseback, while competing to score a bouncing ball between two posts. Each player uses a stick with a racquet head that has a loose thread net that catches the ball during play.
A team consists of six players who are divided into two sets of three each and play alternately in chukkas of periods of 8 minutes. Six or eight chukkas comprise a full match. Zimbabwe has some of the world’s best players in the game, who include Jonathan Connolly, Shelley Odendaal, Kelly Austen, Vanessa Bioketoff, Alene Crook and Greg Siogeant, who have all excelled on the international scene. The country’s national team, led by coach Wilmot Ted stormed the finals at the 2011 World Cup, played in England. They only lost to South Africa in the nail-biting contest, having recorded a 100 percent clean sheet prior.
Mulloy said in the run up to the next season that kick starts around Easter holiday, his association would pursue a junior policy.
“What we need to do is to focus on the young players and ensure that we tap the talent. They make up our future so it is important to roll out a countrywide talent search targeting the young players,†he said.