High standards that make Khumalo Stadium shine

ELIZABETH MBURUGU
Zimbabwean clubs have not been exceptional in the ongoing Africa Hockey Cup of Club Championships (ACCC) taking place at Khumalo Hockey Stadium in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. But the high quality of their hockey pitch indicates their commitment to the sport.

Khumalo is a high standard hockey stadium that has two grounds.

The main AstroTurf stadium is a 10, 000-seater that also has a sand-based training pitch, which is equally good and has hosted high profile matches. Built in 1995 when it hosted All Africa Games, it was refurbished in 2011 prior to the Olympic qualifiers.

The stadium boasts an automatic watering system. It is in perfect condition and one can not tell if it has been watered or not! Quite smooth you must say and it has powerful floodlights to boot, which illuminate as far as three kilometres away.

Now that is your ideal stadium there.

Zimbabwe boasts another pitch of the same standards; Magamba Hockey Stadium in Harare. Hockey Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) Vice Chair Humphrey Chigwedere revealed plans were underway to revamp Magamba.

Both Bulawayo and Magamba are maintained by the government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Local Governments.

According to Chigwedere, HAZ and the government will renovate Magamba because they want to host more high profile continental tournaments. He added that their long-term goals are to build such stadiums in all 10 Zimbabwean provinces.

"We want to have at least one high standard hockey pitch in every province."