Officials fete Quantara for efforts to revive hockey in Tanzania

Valentina Quantara of Twende club from Tanzania controls the ball during their match against Orange Telkom. [PHOTO: ELIZABETH MBURUGU/STANDARD]

Tanzania women’s national hockey team coach Valentina Quantara has been feted by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) for her efforts to revive the sport in Tanzania.

Quantara, working hand-in-hand with the Tanzania Hockey Association (THA), has breathed life into women’s hockey in Tanzania. Her efforts are evident here in Bulawayo as she has managed to put together a women’s national team that has taken part in major continental events since their debut in the Africa Cup of Nations held last year in Nairobi.

Nonetheless, things have not been rosy for the Italian coach, whose passion for hockey saw her knock on the doors of companies looking for sponsorship.

“The Tanzanians requested me to not only put together a team, but also look for funds to see that the team travels to Nairobi for the event and without a second thought I said yes. Nevertheless, time was not on my side as it was three months to the tournament,” she said.

However, as they say, where there is a will there is a way, she managed to get help from Italian hockey players and individual sponsors. To crown it all after weeks of going round on a motorcycle, Quantara got a deal form Pepsi, which offered to sponsor the ladies to play in the Africa Cup of Nations in Nairobi.

Back on the all was not well as she only had three players turning up for training. It was not possible to continue. Her call for more ladies to join the team was not well received as they had given up on the sport.

“They were not willing to join the team, saying they did not want to waste time in training only to be told they could not travel but I encouraged them and one by one they came on board,” she said.

She trained others from scratch and by the time of the event last year, she had 12 devoted players. She now has a team of 16. Quantara also plays for her team, Twende club, alongside being its coach, in competitions such as the club events to give them confidence.

Quantara has also worked hard to introduce the sport at primary school level to university in Dar es Salaam and the entire country.