African Cup of Clubs hockey defending champions Blaze, formerly Telkom, are increasingly finding it difficult to honour this year's showpiece scheduled for between December 1-10 in Ismailia, Egypt.
Blaze have been cash-strapped since June when their long term sponsors Telkom terminated their partnership, ostensibly after 'reviewing it's brand assets strategy'.
But despite their financial constraints, Blaze have strived to raise their own small cash towards the tournament. Their decorated coach Jos Openda said any financial support from corporates will further help the club fulfil their annual continental desires.
He said: "Of course we have not been just sitting our laurel. We've contributed some little amount and we hope that well-wishers can come in handy for facilitation. The championship is not played in Kenya, therefore, financial logistics like accommodation, air tickets and player allowances will be needed."
The 30-year partnership with Telkom used to cater for the club's local and continental commitment as well as looking after the players' welfare. This golden Period saw them win 21 national women's league titles while their players formed the bulk of the national team.
“We are supposed to depart for Egypt on 26th in order to quickly acclimatise with the North African conditions but now lack of funds has left us in limbo," Openda remarked.
Since the exit of Telkom players have struggled to turn up for training. “Our inconsistency in training has hampered our preparations but I am happy we are firmly in contention for the title,” he observed.
This season, Blaze only need two victories in their remaining four matches to clinch their 22nd title. They have 26 points from 10 matches. The team has been rescheduled to play newbies Lakers on Sunday before facing Kenyatta University Titans on 17th in a match which the tactician hopes to be crowned champions.
"We play Lakers this weekend and hopefully lay our hands on the trophy seven days later when we take on the students. I do not, however, know when we will play the other matches."
Should they get the financial support they require to travel for the tournament in Egypt, Openda says he will be wary of Ghana Revenue Authority. The two teams met twice in last year's edition held in Nigeria, where the West Africans laboured to 1-0 victory in the preliminaries before losing 2-0 in the finals as the Kenyan queens were crowned Africa Club Champions for the 10th time.
