Keetmanshoop hosts charity football tournament

KEETMANSHOOP – Skorpion Zinc Mine and Vedanta Resources hosted the first-ever Skorpion Charity Cup at Keetmanshoop over the weekend.

The tournament – aimed at raising money to feed and clothe street children and the elderly in Keetmanshoop – was held at the Joseph Stephanus Stadium in the Tseiblaagte residential area.A total of N$2 000 was collected at the gate and from the selling of refreshments over the weekend.Speaking to Nampa at the stadium on Sunday, Skorpion Zinc Mine’s coordinator for sustainable development, Gebhardt Tjiho, said that some of the employees – Bino Cloete, Beaulah Jaartze, Earl Goliath, Isak Windstaan and MacDonald Claasen – approached the company for assistance with hosting what is hoped will become an annual event.’When these people approached the company with a request for financial support to host the tournament, the company was impressed and agreed to pay for the venue, trophy and medals,’ he said.This year, Skorpion and Vedanta (which owns Skorpion) sponsored N$8 000 for the hosting of the tournament, some of which was used to pay for the venue.The deputy mayor of Keetmanshoop, Gabriel Freyer, said it was a welcome initiative.He added that such events should become a ‘culture’ in this southern town so that young people could be kept busy and contribute to the betterment of other people’s lives, instead of engaging in other activities such as consuming alcohol.’We will make sure that the tournament grows to a point where we will invite teams from other towns, because this weekend we only invited teams from Keetmanshoop,’ Freyer said.Nine soccer teams – Fedics United, Brazilia Football Club, Dates Eleven, Riggos, Lovely Superstars, Forever Thistles, Young Eagles, King Pele Santos and Real Fighters – competed on Saturday and Sunday.Brazilia Football Club and Dates Eleven played in the final. They drew one-all and went into a penalty shootout, which Brazilia won 4-2.The champions received a floating trophy, N$600 and gold medals, while the runners-up received silver medals. – Nampa