Senge keen to repay Nock with good showing at Olympic qualifiers

National women’s hockey team coach Meshack Senge the Sh3m grant by the National Olympic Committee of Kenya will go a long way in sending the team to the 2024 Paris Olympics in France.

On Tuesday, Nock revealed the incentive to a team hungry for success on the international front and Senge promised to repay the faith.

"It's a happy day. But with the support given to us, a lot is expected of us. We want to show value for money," said Senge.

"In my career as the women's coach, we have never had this kind of support and our actualities in terms of preparations have always been exposure. With this grant, we can only get better."

"The team is in very good spirits as we look to battle against some of the top teams in Africa including South Africa, Zimbabwe, Ghana, and Nigeria,” Senge said. 

The team, which had a big provisional squad of 46, has been trimmed to 25. A further downsize will be done, to 18, closer to the qualifiers set for October 29 to November 5 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Captain Gilly Okumu described the grant as a dream come true.

“It’s a dream come true for us. We have been preparing for the qualifiers but this has given us more motivation. I think it’s the first show of support since this crop of players started playing hockey,” she said.

She also reiterated the team’s readiness for the qualifiers both physically and mentally, adding that they are ready to push themselves in the hunt for a reward.

“Mentally, we know where we are heading but we need more test matches. Before the Commonwealth Games, we played friendly matches against local teams but we now have an opportunity to play against international teams," said Okumu.

Nock secretary general Francis Mutuku said: “Based on the performance from last year’s Commonwealth Games and the technical analysis of the team, we feel they have a very good chance of making it to Paris but only if they prepare well."