By Noah Silomba
National team hockey coach Floyd Chomba has commenced his quest to identify young talented hockey players who can form a team to be used to qualify for the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026 in Senegal.
Chomba says he is utilising the Teulings Youth Sports Challenge at the OYDC Zambia to see which athletes are showing potential for the games. He says having participated in the Summer Youth Olympic Games Nanjing 2014 in China, he is confident that when the team qualifies for the Dakar 2026 a good showpiece will be displayed.
The Summer Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026 will be the first Olympic event to be held on African soil.
Chomba was amused on Saturday when several young talented hockey players representing different clubs turned up at the OYDC Zambia to compete in the Teulings Youth Sports Challenge supported by Coen Teulings Chairman of Merifin Capital in Belgium.
Zambia has been represented by hockey at the two Summer Youth Olympic Games the first one being the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympics and the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires Argentina.
The players who made up the team were all selected from The Teulings Youth Sports Challenge organised by the OYDC Zambia and has been running at the centre since 2011.
Some of the players who started their hockey career in this amazing youthful league have graduated from playing to coaching, and umpiring and have gone as far as forming their local clubs whose athletes are also benefiting from the said league.
Meanwhile, Saturday Teulings Games saw other sports like judo and football being played at the Centre.
OYDC Zambia Non-sports programmes officer Richard Mulenga was on the ground to conduct the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) for athletes before the games commenced.
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Over 200 young athletes were in attendance and enjoyedt he OVEP session.
OYDC Zambia
