Can Blue make it?

THE rise of Blue Waters to the premiership will come at a cost this season, but they have to do that to bring back their supporters to the stadium.

Last weekend, Blue Waters coach Lucky Shipanga, some of his players and supporters spoke confidently about the chances of their 73-year-old team to re-enter the premiership, after they were relegated a season ago.
Maybe the confidence is testimony to the team’s current good run in the Cell One NFA Cup, which has now ensured them a quarter-final place. They meet Ramblers at home next.
Blue Waters are among three lower-division sides to go that far in the competition but were somehow afraid to take matters in their own against Robber Chanties in Walvis Bay last weekend.
Shipanga admitted that his young players were maybe nervous of the big stage and could have done better.
They have players who showed quality and skill at times, but some did not, maybe because of stage fright and their young age. They did not seem to find their feet and simply did not show a hunger to win.
The match quickly turned into typical to-and-fro first-division affair before the halfway mark already.
Now, with teams such as Invincible, Monitronic College, Unam and Young Beauties standing in their way, it will take a lot of courage for Blue Waters to lift themselves past the promotion playoffs into the league.
In fact, they first have to end tops in their stream, which is divided into two (coastal and inland), before they play in the promotion playoff against the winner of the inland stream.
The reason why I am addressing Blue Waters’ plight is that their entry back into top-flight football will break the silence and the moratorium, that some Blue Waters fans have put on football at the coastal town in general.
Most have opted to watch football on television because Blue Waters do not play at their beloved Kuisebmond Stadium against formidable opposition such as African Stars, Tigers, Orlando Pirates and others.
Also, Blue Waters fans are no longer as loud as they used to be and a re-entry into top-flight football can just be the trick to get their bragging rights from the Arrows fans. The Arrows supporters are generally no big talkers and so far their players have done the job on the field and that is why they are still in the league.
The Blue Waters supporters will differ with me, but it will be really good to see one of the oldest and most illustrious sides make a comeback to the premiership next season.
Not that Arrows do not bring people to the stadiums, but the nicest thing is the rivalry between the two teams on the field of play, while the fans have a go at each other in terms of bragging.
One will see some of the oldest of football supporters, ‘outoppie wo Blue’ (Blue Waters’ elders), coming from surrounding suburbs in Kuisebmond just to see the cheer their beloved blue and white ‘Omeya’ (water) outfit.
But before that, Shipanga and his men have to make sure they go past their ambitious opponents in the inland stream to land a promotion playoff spot and to win that match at all costs.
Shipanga knows very well that if they get promoted to the premiership, he will be Walvis Bay’s most beloved son.
He will simply be referred to as the one who brought Blue Waters from the misery of the lower leagues into the premiership, which is getting more lucrative each season.
The onus is on the Blue Waters players, management and the supporters to show that their team is worth a place in top-flight football, otherwise they might just remain stuck, or sink even lower. The ball is in your court.
corry@namibian.com.na