Event: Weatherhead Open
Dates: 3rd-5th June 2022
Venue: National Hockey Stadium, Lugogo
The organizers of the Weatherhead Open say that there will be new things added to this year’s staging in order to spice up the tournament and this includes night games.
The 2022 Weatherhead Open, scheduled for 3rd to 5th June at the National Hockey Stadium, Lugogo is part of the activities to mark the club’s year-long silver jubilee celebrations. It will be hosted by Weatherhead’s men’s main team.
Weatherhead Club Chairperson, Stephen Jjuuko Kwagala who’s at the fore front of organizing the event says that they’re almost good to go even regarding the aspect of night games.
“We’ll hold the night games on Saturday only, for now we can’t afford to have them (night games) throughout the event unless a sponsor comes in late,” Jjuuko said adding that it will be the first time hockey is played under the floodlights at Lugogo.
“Saturday is our party night…we are a big club celebrating 25 years and we need something that can give us mileage. We also want to attract more people including none hockey fans to enjoy the night life while watching the game,” Jjuuko noted adding that much popular games will be held at night to keep the onlookers entertained.
With hit-off around the corner, Jjuuko adds that they’re ready to host the tournament with both schools and clubs having confirmed participation.
By press time, most of the local clubs in the national league had confirmed participation including some secondary schools.
At the end of the tournament, Jjuuko believes that Weatherhead will have an increased fan base including people who are new to hockey.
“A wide base of fans can attract sponsors to fund our future plans like our own home (grounds) and the upcoming Masters Tournament plus other developmental ideas leading up to the grand celebration and the like,” Jjuuko said.
In the previous edition held in 2019, Weatherhead men and women emerged champions in their respective categories whilst Kakungulu Memorial won both the boys and girls schools categories. The event didn’t happen in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19 disruptions.
Meanwhile, other activities to mark Weatherhead silver jubilee include the Masters tournament (for persons aged 35 years and above) plus a dinner all scheduled for November. To cap the celebrations, there will be an end of year party scheduled for December. Weatherhead Series held earlier this year paved way for proceedings.
