A new women's hockey club, Waza Pearls has been formed courtesy of sponsorship from NCBA Group.
According to the club's secretary general, Elly Mwanzi, the new side is the women's wing of the Wazalendo men's club.
Although the project's initiation dates back to 2019, financial constraints halted progress.
Mwanzi said: ''We had struggled with finances in terms of registering players. We had a team of 12 ladies back in 2020 but since we are self-sponsored and could not support the team, most of them left. So we had to regroup.''
The club also struggled to acquire essential hockey equipment, including the kit.
''This demotivated most of the players that were here. Some gave up on the project and some even got pregnant and so more and more ladies left," he added. Mwanzi emphasized that Waza Pearls' primary objective is to nurture talent, especially among children from slums.
''When we first started, many children especially those from the slum were not only very talented but also interested in the game. However, they had no grounds to train and our aim was to give them that opportunity,'' said Mwanzi.
National hockey and Wazalendo men's head coach, Fidhelis Kimanzi, will guide the new team.
According to the club's secretary general, the formation of Waza Pearls seeks to promote gender equality within Wazalendo, which previously was a men's affair.
''We want to bring more ladies in Wazalendo and also assist Kenya Hockey Union to develop other ladies' teams because we don't have many in the league," said Mwanzi.
Mwanzi revealed that Pearls' ultimate goal is to compete in the Super League and progress to the Premier League.
