The South Africana Hockey Association will host the inaugural Under 17 Africa Youth Olympic Qualifier for boys and girls in East London from 21 to 28 February 2010.
The winner of the tournament will qualify to attend the Youth Olympics that is scheduled to take place in Singapore in August 2010 subject to each Countries National Olympic Committee selection criteria.
South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Egypt will compete in the boys section.
South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Namibia will compete in the girls section.
The tournament will show case the youth of African Hockey and South Africa can expect tough competition form Egypt and Ghana in the boys section, with Zimbabwe expecting to give the South African girls a run for their money.
The South Africa Youth Teams attended a number of preparation camps at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria as part of the National Department Sport and Recreation (NDSR) high performance support to sports federations.
The hosting of the event and the support of our youth teams was made possible by the LOTTO.
Great financial support from Buffalo City, Eastern Cape Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and the Kat Leisure Hotel Group will ensure that we host a memorable tournament for the youth of Africa.
To co-inside with the tournament, SA Hockey, the LOTTO and NDSR will donate hockey equipment to 22 schools in the Eastern Cape Region.
The LOC and Amathole Hockey Association must be commended for all the hard work in putting this tournament together.
