The School of Excellence Hockey Club (SoEHC) recently fielded its teams at the Africa Cup for Club Championship held in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Talking to The Namibian Sport, SoEHC founder and owner Erwin Handura says of the team’s performances: “Only the School of Excellence Hockey Club represented Namibia at the Africa Cup for Club Championships (ACCC) in Zimbabwe.”
“I’m the director and head coach of the SoEHC, and our aim with the 36th edition of the ACCC was to expose our players to club competition on the African continent and also give our players a reward by winning the 2025 National Outdoor League in Namibia.”
Handura says from a learning perspective, the team did well to beat the Kampala Hockey Club from Uganda in their opening match. He adds that they had the youngest team at the tournament and that the aim is to compete at the 2027 event again.
“To play in a tournament in January is always tough, but we’re quite happy that we managed to represent our country and our players are now well prepared for the National Indoor League starting within the next two weeks.”
Handura says the exposure was vital for the young players, as the club championship attracted seven countries that competed for top honors in the ACCC spectacle.
The championships showcased hockey clubs from as far as Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
As for the individual player’s talent display, Handura says: “Percy Bathram, Delron and Giovanè Handura, Matu Kavikairiua and Sachin Jaanda had a great tournament. In our opening match against Kampala, Delron won the player of the match award.”
“The ACCC is a clear indicator of the state of hockey in each country that took part in the competition. The two Egyptian teams played in the final, and that’s evidence of the strength of the men’s outdoor national team,” he adds.
Namibia last hosted the championship in 1998 in Windhoek, and the last time Namibia competed in this event was in 2003 in Pretoria, South Africa, represented by the University of Namibia Hockey Club. Handura was the coach at the time.
Regarding travelling and accommodation costs Handura says: “We were very fortunate and thankful to the Namibia Sports Commission and our Ministry of Education, Innovation, Sport, Arts and Culture, who provided transport to the teams.”
“The team travelled by road via Botswana. Each player paid N$2 000, and the club paid the rest of the balance as we had to take an umpire and technical official along.”
Handura says in August this year, Zimbabwe will host a junior African competition in Harare for the under-13, -16 and -18 teams.
The former national senior women’s hockey team coach calls for the private sector to come on board to help shape the dreams of the hockey players who will one day represent the country at both continental and global levels.
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