Mombasa Club finally earns promotion to KHU league
Mombasa Sports Club (MSC) has promised to work hard to retain their status in the Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) men’s Premier league.
This is after the Frederick Arika-coached side became one of the two sides to qualify for the top-flight league over the weekend.
For a side that was relegated in 2016, the coach says the patience from the team has been remarkable.
“I think we deserve to be where we are,” said Arika. “It has been an exciting season from the team, to finally secure promotion to the top league.
Now we have an even tougher task of fighting for place in the high table,” said Arika whose side joined men Super League champions Park Road Badgers as the top sides from the second-tier league.
The Mombasa-based side over the weekend managed two wins, a beating Impala 2-1 and a 3-0 victory over Kisumu Youngters to finish the season with 43 points five behind Badgers.
“The real work now begins for the team, the biggest challenge is getting a sponsor on board to help us in the coming season. We also need to boost the team to help us compete fairly with the big boys,” he added.
Meanwhile, the 2020 season which is set to kick off on February 29, 2020 will witness the introduction of Player Identification cards to increase efficiency in player management.
KHU’s deputy match and fixture secretary Moses Majiwa has also revealed that two new teams (Kitale Hockey Club and Sikh Union Tigers) have shown interest in joining the men’s national league.
Also, former participants Mombasa West, Kabarak University and Dedan Kimathi University of Technology are also gearing up for a return to the league.
If they make good their intentions, it will bring to 16 the number of teams in the national league. to 16.
As part of the 2020 calendar, KHU has lined up three high level courses for match officials (technical officers, judges and umpires) to inculcate the latest developments in the rules of the game as well as improve the quality of match officiating. These shall be spread throughout the year.
