National Hockey Championship: Union Bank team vies for honour in Abuja

THE union bank hockey team will tomorrow travel to Abuja to join its counterparts from across the country to feature in this year’s National Hockey Championship scheduled to hold between 21st and 30th July, 2016.

Speaking with Corporatesport at the Lekan Salami Sports Complex, Ibadan, shortly after the team’s training session on Tuesday, the coach of the team, Tunde Adedokun noted that Union Bank’s hockey team can not settle for less at the championship.

He said:”We’ve been in camp for the past nine days now and I want to state here categorically that the boys are in high spirit, their fitness level is quite encouraging and I am absolutely sure that we are coming back with the trophy”.

Adedokun, however, called on government and other stakeholders in sport to encourage the game of hockey by giving adequate support which can actually midwife the development of the game. “It is a fact that hockey is not among the first-class rated sport in Nigeria but we need a lot of encouragement as you can see now, we are making use of  a football pitch which is not suppose to be.

“What we are using now can be described as a makeshift because this not actually a hockey pitch. We are making use of it because of the fact that hockey is played on artificial turf. We need more turf around the country, this became very imperative so as to develop the game”.

Also speaking with Corporatesport, Sport Manager, Union Bank Sports Club, Peter Okoro, commended the team for their efforts since the opening of the open camp in Lagos and the close camp in Ibadan. He, therefore, urged them to do all they could to win the championship in Abuja, while assuring them of management support both morally and financially.