Uganda's U-18 Hockey5 teams fail to qualify for World Cup

Uganda's hopes of competing in a world event for the first time since 1972 have been dashed after the national U-18 Hockey5 teams failed to impress at the inaugural Hockey Youth Africa Cup, held at the Sikh Union Club in Kenya over the weekend.

The continental tournament served as the African qualification event for the inaugural FIH Hockey5 U-18 World Cup, scheduled for December in South Korea.

Five women's teams and four men's teams took part from Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria.

Uganda's head coach, Martin Okello, attributed the poor performance to the players' lack of international experience, saying they were competing at this level for the first time.

Players preparing to face Kenya

"As the technical person, the players could develop game fever while playing big names like South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria. Next time, with such an opportunity, they will do a better job in Hockey5. But we need early preparation and equipment," Okello said.

South Africa and Kenya emerged as Africa's representatives at the Hockey5 World Cup. Kenya won the men's competition, with South Africa finishing second, while South Africa emerged champions in the women's category, followed by Kenya.

Uganda finished fourth in the men's competition behind Nigeria. In the women's category, Uganda finished fifth, behind champions South Africa, runners-up Kenya, bronze medalists Nigeria, and fourth-placed Ghana.

The Ugandan women suffered heavy defeats against South Africa and Nigeria, losing 19-0 and 5-1, respectively, in some of their matches.

Uganda's failure to qualify means the country will have to wait longer for another opportunity to make a return to the global hockey stage, having last featured a national team at the Olympics in 1972 in Munich, Germany.