CAIRO - Egypt's Sharqia hockey team have won 19 of the last 22 African championship titles, and nine of them were successive. The African Hockey Championship is always hotly contested by teams from all over the continent. But, as Egyptians hoped and expected, Sharqia won the 22nd African Hockey Championship held in Accra, Ghana, last month. They thrashed Trustees of Ghana 4-1 in the men's final to emerge the winners in a very one-sided match. The Egyptians led 2-0 at half time through goals from Waleed Mahmoud and Hassan Mohamed in the sixth and 35th minutes respectively. Two minutes into the second half, Mohamed made it three, while his teammate Hossam Gobran sealed the victory in the 50th minute. The best moment for Trustees came in the 55th minute when Jonnie Botsio scored a consolation goal from a penalty corner. The Egyptians went wild at the final whistle, with everyone chanting “Allah Akbar” (God is Great). It was a fantastic 19th title for the Egyptian side, putting every other team worldwide in the shade. "But it hasn't been easy," Yehia Debes, the team's technical coach, told the Egyptian Mail in an interview. "This particular championship was very tough for us, as all the top African teams have improved." Debes, who himself is a member of the African Coaches Committee, explained that eight hockey clubs, two of them from Ghana, two from Nigeria, two from Kenya and two from Egypt, competed in this prestigious championship. Hockey is by no means a modern sport, as the Ancient Egyptians played a game similar to hockey, for strength and fitness, as much as for pleasure and recreation. Drawings in the famous tombs at Beni Hassan, near the Nile in the Upper Egyptian Governorate of Minya, show players holding bats made of long palm-tree branches, with a bent end similar to that of the modern-day hockey bat. Hockey success in the Governorate of Sharqia has not come by accident or overnight. The sport was introduced to Sharqia in 1939 by a British physical fitness teacher working in Zagazig. "The shortage of players before the African Championship was a real challenge for us. But the young new players selected by the coaching body for the African Championship did very well,” Debes, 50, told this newspaper. Debes is the only Egyptian to have gained the African title as a coach with two different teams. He grabbed the title with the Police Union team, before leading Sharqiya to yet more success. “We faced many problems before the championships began. For one thing, three of our best players turned professional Ahmed Ezz went off to play in England and Mohamed Idris and Hassan Mohamed in Italy,” he said. “But we managed to lure them back to the team with new, highly professional contacts that pay them the same as what they were earning in Italy and England,” he added. “Meanwhile, we had to recruit seven young faces to fill the gaps, including Ahmed Gamal Abullah, Ahmed Mohssen and Mohamed Essam.” For Debes, the 22nd championship was really special. “By winning the African title, Sharqia have won the right to represent Africa in the Men's Hockey World Club Championship." Debes has asked officials in the Egyptian and African Hockey Federations to support the team, as they prepare to give a vintage performance in the coming championship, to be held next summer in India. At the medal ceremony, which was attended by Secretary-General of the African Hockey Federation, alongside Omar Selim, the Egyptian Ambassador to Ghana, players and the coaching body expressed their delight at winning yet again. Trustees of Ghana came second, Police Union of Egypt third, Stamour of Kenya fourth, Niger Flickers of Nigeria fifth, Golden Sticks of Ghana sixth and Yobe Rollers of Nigeria seventh. “We must respect and appreciate these players who've done Egypt proud," said Debes. Hockey first appeared on the Olympic programme just over a century ago at the 1908 London Games and again in 1920 at Antwerp, a city in Belgium. The sport was again featured on the programme at Amsterdam in 1928 and has been a regular Olympic sport ever since. Women's hockey became a fixture on the Olympic programme in Moscow in 1980. Debes urges officials in Egypt to do more to foster good hockey, as one of the main problems facing the game is that hockey equipment is very expensive. "Hockey is a difficult sport that requires a lot of effort, hard training and concentration," said Debes, explaining that, like most sports, it demands flexibility, fitness, strength and mental balance. Meanwhile, Seif Hamed, the President of the Egyptian Hockey Federation (EHF), described the tournament as a success. "As well as winning, Sharqia gained a lot of experience. We got the opportunity to play against high-profile teams and this will definitely benefit the national teams," Hamed told the Mail. "We are giving more attention to youth than ever before, as good hockey players are created when they are young," he added. He pointed out that the EHF is now focusing on pushing hockey as “a sport for all to encourage the participation of underrepresented groups. "The EHF has started a project to make the equipment available at a tenth of its real price," he said, stressing that the purpose of this is to expand interest in the game all over the country,” said Hamed, who is also the President of the African Hockey Federation. "This is besides establishing training centres for players, coaches and referees." According to Hamed, the EHF has started a project with the governmental National Sports Council to get the game included in the sports activities at schools all over Egypt.
