Behind some of Namibia’s finest track stars stands coach Gerson Lucky Gawanab. Many know him as the coach who shaped the career of Agnes Samaria, who holds the national women’s 800m record, and Kapena Rukero, who flew the Namibian flag high at the World Junior Athletics Championships in Jamaica in 2001.
“Other than Agnes and Kapena I am the same man who elevated national champions like Rudiger Gertz, Christophine Hamases, Agenda Matongo, Victoria Tjingaete and sensational junior sprinter James Britz,” Gawanab says.
But what many don’t know is that Gawanab was a star himself.
The Windhoek-born sprinter represented Namibia on numerous occasions in South Africa (SA) before independence.
“I was a true all-rounder and a hard worker during my athletics years. I clocked very impressive best times of 10.4 in the 100m and 21.7 in the 200m.
“I did not only limit myself to the sprints during those years. I even soared to 1.95m in the high jump at the Annual Arandis and Swakopmund Sports Day in 1981,” Gawanab says.
His athletics sojourn started at Auas Primary School in Dolam, Katutura, where he also entered the classroom for the first time.
in 2001.
“Things got more serious when I went to Goreangab Junior Secondary School. There we were competing in a structure because the teachers there were serious about athletics.”
Gawanab says that his understanding of athletics changed completely after he joined the Rössing Athletics Club.
“I went to visit my sister at Arandis and I applied for a job at Rössing Uranium Limited. I got appointed as an assistant at the sports office and joined a dynamic team led by the legendary Harry Garus-oab,” he says.
“I also trained and ran for the athletics club. I received invaluable input from both Abraham So-Oabeb and Garus-oab, who were both record-breaking sprinters during their heyday.”
He participated in the Rössing team during Chamber of Mines Athletics Championships by clocking impressive times of 10.8 in the 100m, 21.7 in the 200m and 49.8 in the 400m.
At the Annual Namibia versus Western Province Meeting at Oranjemund Gawanab gave a good account of himself on the track.
“I finished third during the 1982 event after finishing the 100m in 10.6 and the 200m in 21.8. I clinched silver in 1983 with times of 10.8 in the 100m and 22.7 in the 200m,” he says.
His talent earned him a spot on the Namibian under-20 team that competed at the SA Championships in Pretoria in 1983, where he ran the 100m in 10.8 and the 200m in 21.9.
In that same year, he was elevated to the senior national team for the South African Senior Athletics Championships in Bloemfontein.
His athletics took him beyond the track. Between 1983 to 1984 he attended coaching courses for sprinters at Swakopmund, courtesy of the South West Africa Amateur Athletics Association.
His love for sport was not restricted to athletics. Gawanab also played soccer at school, did karate at Arandis and took a keen interest in swimming.
“Apart from being a swimmer myself, I became a prominent coach in the sport. In fact, I was the only black swimming coach in Namibia from 1985 to 1988,” he says.
Gawanab coached at the Rössing Arandis Swimming Club.
Starting from 1992, Gawanab has been the University of Namibia’s athletics coach.
At Unam he has coached talented athletes like Letu Hamhola, Erwin Handura and Engelhardt ‘Mini’ Uiseb, who went on to become very prominent coaches in their various sports codes today.
The vastly experienced Gawanab was also appointed head of the Tertiary Institutions Sports Association of Namibia team to various Confederation of Universities and Colleges Sports Association Zone VI Student Games.
“The going was not always smooth at the Cucsa Games. The Tisan athletics team could only manage a bronze medal at the 1993 event in Swaziland,” he says.
“But we turned the bronze into gold at three consecutive events between 1994 and 1996 in Botswana, Walvis Bay and Malawi. The Tisan athletics team made Namibia proud.”
Later between 1998-1999 he upgraded in Germany to a sports massage course and a IAAF Level 1 Certification from the Gutenberg University of Mainz.
In 2002, the nation entrusted him as head of the Namibian senior national team to the African Championships in Tunisia.
That same year, he worked tirelessly to help revolutionise Olympic silver medallist Frank Fredericks into Namibia’s finest junior and senior 400m runner.
Gawanab is also part of the Rössing Athletics Club that dominated the relays both in the Chamber of Mines and the Senior Athletics Championships.
Their team was composed of the likes of Gindi Gawanab, Patrick ‘16 Valve’ Basson, Eddy Haosemab and himself or Frank Fredericks when he was around at the time.
COACHING RISING STARS
Gawanab is currently running his own Golden Cheetahs Athletics Club where he has a lot of household athletes on the Namibian and continental scene.
The club also had Namibia’s fast-rising sprinter Ndawana Haitembu on its books before she went to study in South Africa.
Gawanab says choosing this path was one of the best and most satisfying decisions he has ever made.
“I have a very busy schedule and coaching can be draining, especially during the athletics competition season when the athletes want to get in shape to qualify for a specific event,” he says.
His coaching involves one-on-one sessions with specific athletes, as well as with other sport and netball clubs.
Gawanab, who has worked as a caretaker at Independence Stadium for over 11 years, also hosts training for schoolteachers to coach pupils.
The part-time goat and sheep farmer’s advice to young and aspiring athletes is to work hard.
“Because it pays off in the long run. Some people only train for two months, then they expect wonders.
“You need a consistent and rigorous training programme to become someone in athletics. This philosophy also counts for all the other sports codes in the world. You must not jump from this coach to seek instant success. Trust in your coach,” he says.
