Currently the foundation supports in total 7 coaches, who are responsible for the training sessions in schools and at grassroot level. All the coaches are young players, all of whom have represented Tanzania in junior and senior international competitions.
1.Sultan Kondo
Coach Sultan, nicknamed Sulu, is 30 years old and is one of the pioneer coaches. He started coaching in 2015 in Dar es Salaam at the KM centre, in Gongolamboto area at the suburbs of the city. He started with 3 schools before relocating to Arusha in 2017 with the sole aim of starting school hockey in the Northern region of Arusha, where he currently teaches hockey in 9 schools. He holds a coaching certificate up to experienced level and was one of the selected coaches who took part in a three day coaching clinic conducted by The International Hockey Federation and the Africa Hockey Federation in Nairobi (Kenya) in 2019. In Arusha, other than the schools’ program, Coach Sulu has also started a community club called the Black Tigers for the players who are out of the school system, with the aim of preventing them to engage in risky behaviours through engagement in sports activities.
2.Elieza Mwankemwa
Coach Elieza is also one of the most experienced coaches. He is 22 years old and first got exposed to hockey in 2011 while still in high school. Despite being a multi-talented player in various sports, he finally settled for hockey. He is a former under 21 and a current national team player. He started coaching in Dar es salaam in 2016 with 3 schools under his charge. When the opportunity to expand hockey to other regions, he stepped up and opted to go Lindi, a coastal town about 450 km south of Dar es Salaam. Similarly, he also attended the 3 day FIH/AFHF coaching clinic in 2019.
He also started a community club for the players outside of the school system. Part of his after school programs include mentoring of the old players into transitioning as coaches.
3.Rosemary Uwandameno One of the youngest coaches, Rose is 23 years and started coaching in 2017. As a former under 21 captain and current national team player, she is also a role model to many of the upcoming young female players. She teaches hockey in Dar es Salaam and the sport centre Jakaya Kikwete Youth Park. She also attended the 3 days FIH/AFHF coaching clinic in Kenya in 2019..
4. Elizabeth George Elizabeth started coaching in 2017. She has a total of 4 schools (3primary,1 secondary) under her charge. At a young age of 25 years, Coach Elizabeth has worked passionately and with a lot of zeal to improve her players situations, both on and off the pitch. She is also in charge of the KM centre, in Gongolamboto area, at the Suburbs of Dar es Salaam, which is open to all players 7 days a week. Her team, Juhudi Secondary School, won the Regional under 18 league in 2019 in both the boys’ and girls’ categories, to earn themselves a slot in the EAST African secondary school games.
5. Leah Shan
Leah Shan is an experienced hockey player and the oldest female coach. She is 34 years of age. Coach Leah runs the Kigamboni Hockey Centre, which is an initiative she started to give children in her home area access to hockey. The centre has been active since 2014. What makes the centre unique is that it is open to all the children around the area and it is not within the school set up. The children’s passion for the game is also unrivalled, despite having challenges regarding the training ground, which doubles as a market two days a week and on the other days, the little space is shared with a garage. The highlight of her coaching career was when she the team manager for the under 21 team in 2015.
6. Edfonce Msemwa
At 26 years of age, Coach Msemwa has 4 primary schools in his charge. He started coaching in 2013, as a coach to his former high school before joining the Twende family in 2017. At the time in 2013, he was a player and coach, despite having no prior training. Over the years, he has attended several training courses conducted by Twende Foundation and Tanzania Hockey Association. The highlight of his coaching career was in 2017, when he was appointed as the Dar es Salaam teams’ coach that participated in the National league in 2017, that brought together 6 regions and over 600 junior players for a week long competition.
7. Ally Nshoro (Dar es Salaam)
At age 21, is by far the youngest coach. He started coaching in 2018 and currently has 5 schools in Dar es Salaam that he is working with. Despite being a coach, he is also still active as a national team player. Coach Ally is one of the players, who started playing in 2013 in primary school through high school and is now one of the coaches. A former student of coach Sulu, Ally has also been in the under 21 team and the senior team.
