Kavango East governor promises dinner for cup winners

Kavango East governor Julius Hambyuka yesterday said he would honour his pledge to treat the newly crowned 2025 Nedbank Namibian Newspaper Cup netball champions to dinner.

His region reclaimed the u20 crown at Outjo on Monday, ending a decade of misfortune in the competition since winning the inaugural title.

When welcoming the football and netball football teams back home at Rundu yesterday, Hambyuka said the youngsters had brought immense pride and joy to the region.

“I promised you when I sent you off that if you claim the cup, I will organise a dinner for you,” Hambyuka said.

“You have won, you made us proud and take note we will invite you for dinner.”

His office will support the team’s ambition to retain the title championship at next year’s tournament.

“This trophy should remain in Kavango East; next year we will win the cup, then we’ll bring it again home,” Hambyuka said, before proceeding to acknowledge and thank the netball technical team for their dedication to excellence.

Kavango East Netball Association chairperson Wayera Hausiku says they have already started to plot the defence of their Nedbank Namibian Newspaper Cup netball title.

Regaining the title, which they first won in 2015, was phase one of the region’s plan to dominate the competition – similar to how Khomas enjoyed a three-year stronghold on the coveted trophy.

Kavango East vanquished Khomas in the group stages before securing the crown in a lopsided final contest against Omaheke.

“We’re are very happy to take the cup this year. We were well prepared. This year we told ourselves we are going to get the cup,” said Hausiku after the team upgraded from fourth at Gobabis last year to first at Outjo.

“We are going to try to keep this team as it is but we have to get some strategies of making sure the team remains motivated for success. We already have a development team or shadow team for Kavango East which prepared the first team for the tournament,” she continued.

“So, we are going to try to make sure that this team will keep the trophy.”

Team captain Susan Dindo said dedication and discipline led them to triumph. She hopes their victory will encourage other youth to participate in sports while still studying to maximise their potential.

“As players, we believe in discipline to overcome our challenges. It is what helped us win the games and bring the cup home,” she said.

Winning coach Frans Ndara said it was not an easy journey, from selecting the final squad to camping and fighting for honours.

He highlighted the challenges of lack of training facilities and playing gear, a struggle he hopes will be addressed by the regional leadership.

“Some of the girls were lacking tekkies, we had to dig in our pockets. We got sponsored to buy for a few players at the last minute, Ndara said.

“It was very tough to train in the morning and in the afternoon because you need to have the same routine of training with the girls to get used [to it],” Ndara said.

In terms of opposition at the tournament, Ndara said the matches against former champions Khomas and Erongo were the toughest to negotiate.

“I remember drawing Erongo in the last group games. They gave us a tough time because they were also well prepared. Those teams are always well prepared, you know they have better facilities compared to us,” said Ndara, who revealed that the players and technical staff each received N$100 before the final match from an unspecified supporter to motivate them.

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