Liz Chase was born in Umtali (later renamed Mutare) in the far east of Rhodesia but was educated in Salisbury, the capital city. During her time at the Salisbury Girls High School she represented the national schools team from 1966, and then graduated to the under 21 and full international teams.Chase then went to university in South Africa to study physical education and, during her studies, played firstly for the state team then the South African B team. Finally, in 1976, she was called to play for the South African national team. With no sign of sanctions being lifted against South Africa and the newly renamed Zimbabwe emerging from its own sporting ban, Chase returned to her native country to teach physical education at one of Harare’s girls schools whilst continuing her hockey career at Old Hararians HC.
Zimbabwe were late invitees to the Moscow Olympics, when the women’s tournament was decimated by the Western boycott. With Chase installed as vice-captain, the team was unbeaten as they strode to the most unlikely gold in Olympic hockey history. Shortly after the Olympics she returned to South Africa, where she eventually became the head of the Physical Education department at Wits University until her retirement at age 65 in 2015. Unfortunately, she was struck with a serious illness shortly afterwards and died in 2018.
Zimbabwe