Namibia steps up its preparations for the Indoor Hockey World Cup when they take on Croatia in an official test series starting tonight.
Namibia’s men and women’s teams have completed their preparations in The Netherlands where they played against some top premier league teams and both the men’s coach Trevor Cormack and the women’s coach Shayne Cormack expressen satisfaction with their preparations.
“So far the preparations are going very well and the mood in the camp is very positive. We played several top Dutch premier league sides and had guest international coaches who assisted us with our preparations. We are very happy with our preparation phase in the Netherlands and our objections have been met. We dont have any injury concerns and are at full strength,” Trevor Cormack said.
“We have left the Netherlands and are now in Zagreb in Croatia to play a three-match series against their national team. After the Croatia test series in Zagreb we travel to our final destination in Porec, Croatia to prepare and compete at the 2025 FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup. We will play two friendly matches in Porec before the tournament officially starts,” he added.
Shayne Cormack was also happy with their preparations to date.
“We are very happy with our preparation phase in the Netherlands and objectives were achieved. We anticipated a very challenging preparation phase in the Netherlands as we had the opportunity to train and play the best teams in their top league. Since Germany is in our pool at the world cup, this preparation has been priceless to prepare us for the level and the intensity we can expect from our opponents,” she said.
“The mood is good and the ladies are growing from every experience and improving. We have had coaching sessions with top level coaches and are grateful for the opportunity to learn from the best and we will be using this and adapt a few things as we move on to Croatia. After our test matches we will have a better idea of our performance expectations at the world cup,” she added.
Namibia’s men will kick off the seriers against Croatia with their first test taking place tonight at Zelina City Hall, just outside the capital Zagreb.
The men play two more tests, on Saturday and Sunday, while the women’s series takes place from Monday, 27 January to Wednesday, 29 January.
Namibia’s women are currently ranked 12th in the world and Croatia 26th, while Namibia’s men are ranked 14th and Croatia 22nd.
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