The South African hockey teams are facing financial hurdles as they prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympics, a situation that also happened before the Tokyo 2020 Games.
While both the men’s and women’s teams have qualified for their sixth Olympic appearance, they are desperate for funds.
SA Hockey’s interim CEO Shaune Baaitjies, emphasised the financial struggles within the organisation, pointing out that, like many other sports in South Africa, hockey programmes are mostly self-funded unless they receive external sponsorship.
To manage some of these financial issues, the women’s team has partnered with ProTouch Africa, which has launched a crowdfunding campaign.
The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) will only cover flights to Paris, leaving the teams to find resources for domestic travel, accommodation, meals, and pre-Olympic camps and games.
The women’s team needs around R800,000 to pay for travel to Europe for final preparations and matches against France and Belgium before the Games.
Baaitjies said Sascoc’s support traditionally focuses on expenses related to participating in the Olympics itself, rather than pre-event preparations.
Senior women’s player Robyn Johnson emphasised the importance of international exposure to compete on the world stage but the financial strain is felt by the players.
The most costly part is accommodation, amounting to about R485,000.
Compiled by staff writer
Pictured above: Female South African Hockey team in action.
Image source: SA Hockey/X
