How England and Ghana have a shared hockey history

England’s men’s and women’s teams face Ghana in their first matches in the Commonwealth Games, and the two nations have a shared recent hockey history.

As part of hosting the Hockey Women’s World Cup in London in 2018, England Hockey secured a four-year international development partnership with UK Sport; the Hockey Target Assistance Programe (TAP) in West Africa.

Getting underway in 2015, the project supported Ghana Hockey in developing participation and performance programmes for coaches, umpires and players, primarily focused on the women’s game. The plan also included providing hockey equipment (4,000 sticks, 4,000 balls and 20 goalkeeper kits) and resources in schools and clubs across West Africa to recruit new players and the training of over 70 new coaches. 

As part of the programme; Ghana’s women’s team visited Bisham Abbey in 2015 while England Hockey staff also made a number of reciprocal visits.

Ghana’s women have performed superbly; qualifying for the Commonwealth Games for the first time in 2018, while the men’s team are making their first appearance this time around in Birmingham.

After Ghana women’s qualification in 2018 UK Sport Chair Dame Katherine Grainger said: “I had heard great things about the TAP project but it wasn’t until being privileged enough to have a visit to Ghana myself that I realised its enormous positive impact. We often talk about how sport can transform lives and in Ghana I saw a wonderful tangible example of that.”

The partnership programme brought together England Hockey, UK Sport, FIH, Ghana Hockey and the African Hockey Federation.