By Ben Ahenda

Hockey standards, save at the school championships, in the Rift Valley region have dropped because players can no longer afford playing kits.

Players have a lot of interest in the game, but cannot afford even a hockey stick, according to Kenya Hockey Union (KHU), Rift Valley branch chairman, Dilal Singh Bangu.

He said unlike other sports — football, swimming, athletics, volleyball, basketball, among others —hockey is a very expensive sport.

"Majority of the youth and secondary school leavers, who are idle most of the time, develop an interest in playing hockey, but lack kits," he said. KHU chairman, Resham Singh Bains, admitted local hockey standards have plummeted. "This is because of lack of support from the Government," he said.

Bains said the men and women’s national teams’ inability to do well at regional and global assignments has continued to demoralise young players. He said they lacked a full-time professional coach for the national teams, which is the Government’s responsibility.

Bangu said there were good hockey pitches in Nakuru and Eldoret towna capable of hosting major tournaments. He named them as Nakuru Athletic Club, Menengai High School, Melvin Jones Lions Academy and Nakuru High.

The branch boss said Nakuru and Eldoret could produce two or three teams each to the Premier League.

He admitted the branch had not been active for three years. On the revival of disbanded clubs like Nakuru Athletic Simba, he said he would soon convene a meeting to address the issue.

Top on the agenda is the revival of hockey activities in the region and a call for the Asian community to support development of hockey programmes in the province.

He said the Sikh community in Nakuru have an interest in the game and would take up the matter with them. Nakuru Athletic Simba dropped out of the league last year due to financial difficulties.

He said besides his executive’s efforts to revive the fallen clubs, they would also focus on secondary schools.