The 2012 Kenya Hockey Union league will be played in one leg format.
This is contrary to initial agreement between the Union and hockey clubs' representatives .This comes
after the same union gave in to clubs demand to adopt the popular two
leg format late last month.
KHU secretary general Vivien Agunda
has said that the status quo will be upheld citing that the 2-leg
format would be expensive to the Kenya Hockey Union and the
participating teams.
The KHU board argues that a 2-leg format
would mean that up country teams will be required to make more trips to
Nairobi to honor their fixtures yet already, the response from teams in
terms of registration/league entry for the 2012 league season is poor -
indicating that teams are undergoing financial difficulties.
In
addition, the union will be preparing the national teams for various
international champiohships including the Junior African Cup U-21 for
Men/Women in South Africa in Nov – Dec 2012, the Africa Club Cup
Championship (ACCC) in Zimbabwe in Nov – Dec 2012 and the African Cup
for Nations in Egypt in September 2013.
“However the board will
ensure that there will be a lot of hockey activity taking place in the
form of festivals and tournaments round the country, and throughout the
year as this will guarantee the much needed exposure and experience
required by clubs and players.” said Agunda.
Kenyan clubs
participating in the continental championships had complained that the
one-leg format was not giving them sufficient playing time. The coaches
also indicated that the one leg format restricted them to just 10 or
less matches per season; therefore they could not afford to vary their
teams for risk of losing a match – resulting in very few players getting
playing time.
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