HOCKEY in Namibia is currently on a high following a great year on the international stage, and on Saturday the next generation of future stars will be out to showcase their skills at the Standard Bank National Hockey Festival.
The national festival forms part of Standard Bank Namibias three-year sponsorship of N$1,5 million for hockey development, which was launched in September and has since seen about 500 children from four regions getting to grips with the game.
Erwin Handura of the School of Excellence Hockey Academy, who is organising the programme, and is also the national womens hockey coach, says the success of Namibias national mens and womens teams has raised the profile of the game.
Namibias women won the Africa Cup in April to qualify for next years Indoor World Cup in Belgium, while the men, although finishing runners-up to South Africa, later also qualified after Australia and New Zealand withdrew from the finals.
Handura says Namibias qualification, as well as the fact that they won the team of the year award at the Namibia Sport Awards, had led to renewed interest in the sport.
“Our success this year has really raised the profile of hockey in Namibia, and theres now a lot of interest in the sport. I have received a lot of phone calls from parents who want their children to start playing the game. One mother from Rehoboth was so inspired that she sent her two daughters to join the programme at MH Greeff, and despite being the youngest girls in the group, they are of the most committed girls there,” he says.
The national festival is the culmination of several development leagues and festivals that were held at Katutura, Khomasdal, Mariental, Gobabis, Rehoboth, and Okahandja in the under-9 age group category over the past few weeks.
On conclusion of the festivals, 60 boys and 60 girls were selected to compete at Saturdays national festival, and Handura says he has seen some great talent on display.
“Without any doubt some of these players can reach the national team one day, and we will nurture and monitor their development. We have created a database of all the players, and we hope to keep them in the system and help develop and unlock their full potential.
“In the beginning it took some time for them to understand and master the hockey skills and stick work, but its already much easier. With hard work over the next few years some of these kids can go far,” he says.
FESTIVALS KICK OFF AT GOBABIS
The leagues already started in October, while the festivals started at Gobabis on 13 November at Ben van der Walt Primary School.
A total of 96 pupils from four primary schools took part, with Nosobville emerging victorious in both finals, after beating Ben van der Walt in the boys final and !Khoandawes in the girls final.
Two days later the Okahandja festival was held at the sport field of Okahandja Primary School, in which a total of 80 pupils from four primary schools competed.
KW von Marees Primary School won the boys final when they defeated Aurora Primary School 1-0 on a penalty shootout after the teams were tied 0-0 at the end of normal time, while Aurora Primary School beat Nau-Aib Primary School 1-0 in the girls final.
On 16 November a festival was held at Katutura, with three schools participating, namely Peoples Primary School, Bethold Himumuine Primary School, and Namutoni Primary School.
Peoples Primary School won the boys festival, while Bethold Himumuine Primary School won the girls competition.
On 17 November the festival moved to Rehoboth, where four schools participated, namely JTL Beukes Primary School, Rehoboth Primary School, St Josephs Primary School and Ruimte Primary School.
St Josephs reigned supreme by winning both the boys and girls competitions.
The following day a festival was held in Khomasdal, where three schools, namely Gammans Primary School, MH Greeff Primary School, and Khomasdal Primary School participated, with MH Greeff winning the boys and Gammans the girls competitions.
The Mariental Hockey festival took place on 20 November at the sport field of Danie Joubert Primary School at Mariental.
Four schools, namely Danie Joubert, Mariental Primary, Sonop Primary, and DD Guibeb Primary took part in the event.
Sonop Primary won the boys section after they beat Mariental Primary 3-2 on a penalty shoot-out, after the teams were still tied at 0-0 at the end of normal time.
The girls final between Sonop Primary and Danie Joubert also had to be decided on penalties, after the teams played out to a goalless stalemate in normal time. In the shoot-out, Danie Joubert emerged victorious with a 2-1 victory to be crowned the regional champions.
Handura says the national womens team will also be involved at the national festival.
“Our national womens players will be involved and helping out at the festival, so the children will be able to see and learn from their role models. They will all coach different teams, while our goalkeepers Petro Stoffberg and Berencia Diamond will also host a goalkeeping course,” he says.
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