Ex-Kenya international keeps her American dream alive

The coronavirus pandemic has sent various athletes globally back to the drawing board after events that they were supposed to compete in were postponed.

One such athlete is Raquel Otieno who was looking at making history as the first Kenya-born player to feature at the Masters Hockey World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa, from September 19 to 28.

The former Kenyan International was selected to represent the United States of America in the women’s over 45 years’ category. 

The biennial competition, which features players who are above 35 years only, has since been postponed to the same time, next year.

For Otieno who is the founder of Tunza Sports Academy — a non-profit sports foundation which aims at promoting Kenya’s hockey and boxing — the postponement means she has to keep on training hard to maintain the fitness level required to keep her place in the team.

This entails modifying a training space back at home. 

“We resumed practice via zoom. So what happens is that you are expected to prepare a space that you can use for stick and ball movement, have a partner to work with or a rebound board,” she said.

 “The coach takes us through agility exercises, skills routine and finally stretch exercises. 

“Focus is intense because you have to visualize the demo on your tiny laptop which is very different from being on the field with the coach and while also listening in to instructions as you carry out the skills routine.”

The former Blazers (formerly Telkom) player qualified to don US colours by the virtue of having stayed in the country for more than a year, as per the World Masters Hockey rules.

She relocated to the US in 2004 and is now a coach at the GForce Field Hockey Club.