• She is a Kenyan playing for the USA team because she is eligible to play under the rules of World Masters Hockey.
• The former Kenyan International plays as a right-back for her Big Apple Club.
Image: /COURTESY
Rael Otieno will be the first-ever Kenyan woman to play in a hockey World Cup when she represents the United States of America in Cape Town, South Africa in September.
Atieno will play in the over 45 years category having celebrated her 45th birthday in December last year. The cut-off age for the masters' tournament is 35. Atieno is among 15 players named for the assignment in her category.
Atieno is also the Tunza Sports Chief Executive Officer, a non-profit organisation that nurtures talents and has its base in Kisumu and Mombasa. Although she is a Kenyan, she qualifies to represent the US by virtue of having resided in America for more than 12 months, as per the World Masters Hockey rules.
Atieno, who is a Junior Premier Hockey Technical Delegate, has been residing in the US for 15 years.
The former Kenyan International plays as a right-back for her Big Apple Club. The G-Force Field Hockey Club coach feels honoured for the chance and will use the opportunity to further her networks for the benefit of Tunza Sports.
"Playing for the USA is an honour like no other. I am really excited about the opportunity to train and compete at this high level in South Africa. My target for this trip is to perform well for the USA Women's team," said Atieno.
"I have a sports academy that I run and it is important I stay active and grow my network of friends and sponsors from within the hockey community."
The bi-annual event is for both indoor and outdoor. Atieno, who did not feature in the 2018 edition due to a knee injury, is optimistic about staying fit to realise her dream.
"I have been playing tournaments with the masters for roughly four years. I previously made the cut for the Indoor World Cup last year that was held in Tokyo. But due to studies, I was not able to fully commit and was placed as an alternate," she said.
"For outdoor, this World Cup would be my second tryout, the first being in 2018 in which again I didn’t make the cut having just come back from knee surgery."
The FIH Hockey Masters program started in 2012. It is managed by the World Masters Hockey (WMH) and the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The venues vary and for the first time this year, there will be two venues for different age groups where Over-35 and Over-40 will play in England and Over-45 will play in South Africa.
The reason for this is that the interest has grown so much and one country cannot host the huge event by itself.
The level II accredited coach added: "That desire to top the podium does not diminish with age, but most importantly, Masters Hockey plays an important role in the future well-being of the game by encouraging older players to continue playing and stay as active members of their clubs and other hockey organizations."
"There are 70+ countries around the world playing masters. Africa is slow in catching up. In the last world cup which was held in Terrassa, Spain only South Africa and Ghana attended from Africa. They may be the only ones again this year, but Kenya is definitely not going."
Kenya started the Masters League last season.
The USA adult players comprise of a big network of friends, previous collegiate athletes and club mates. They meet in different forums as players or coaches.
"I am kind of the unknown new kid on the block, an alien if you will, as I never went through the structured development process of hockey in the USA. I didn’t play college hockey nor in any youth clubs. So I was unknown coming in and had to work hard to get my presence felt. This is a huge country with enormous players," noted Otieno.
"I am thrilled and hope that as the first Kenyan female hockey player to attend a World Cup at any level, young upcoming players from Kenya and other under-developed nations will be inspired and believe that 'People who soar are those who have refused to give up and wish things would change'."
"They have to go out and try to be something. I have travelled far physically, but more so emotionally and mentally to be in this position," said Atieno who was the judge in the USA vs Canada Series match August, last year.
The team holds training sessions once a month. For this World Cup, a training camp is set from March 14-15 at the 76ers Fieldhouse in Pennsylvania. This will be followed by competing in the Beach Bash event in Milford, Delaware from April 25-26. The team will also attend the Shooting Star Masters tournament in Boston.