Lucrative prizes on cards for 2007 NFA awards

THE Namibia Football Association’s (NFA) Player of the Season will walk away with N$15 000 as prize money, when the mother body hold its annual awards in Windhoek this Saturday.

The Player of Season will be determined by all 12 Namibia Premier League (NPL) coaches through a secret ballot, NFA acting secretary-general Barry Rukoro said yesterday. Before the ballot, each coach will be expected to nominate a player that he or she thinks has performed well over the season, but are not allowed to nominate players from their clubs.The Player of the Season will get the biggest share on the night, while other award winners will get at least N$10 000 each for their efforts.Rukoro said the Top Goalscorer will get N$10 000, which in this case will be Civics frontman William Chilufya who scored 17 goals from 22 matches this season.There is also an award for the Young Player of the Season and he will be pocketing N$10 000, while the Referee of the Season, Team of the Season, Team manager of the Season and Coach of the Season will all get N$10 000 each.The Administrator of the Season will receive N$5 000, while the recipient of the President’s Special Contribution award will also pocket N$5 000.The president of the NFA, John Muinjo, also decides on who receives the Administrator of the Year award according to Rukoro.He said Muinjo would have the sole discretion on deciding who the best administrator is among his personnel in the various leagues.The International award which is awarded to any foreign-based player who has performed well for the country includes N$5 000.Other awards include the League of the Season which will be given to any of the current leagues in the country at the discretion of the NFA and it carries a prize-tag of N$5 000.The media awards will be determined by the officials of the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC) and will see the winner in the television sector going home with N$10 000, the best radio presenter, also with N$10 000, while the best print journalist will be given a similar amount.The top six teams in the NPL will all be receiving handsome amounts, with Civics as the champions the biggest beneficiaries, as they stand to walk away with N$500 000.Rukoro explained that the Coach of the Season and the Team manager of the Season awards would not necessarily be from the league champions.He said for the coach, the criteria is that he will be judged on his overall performance throughout the league and other aspects such as dedication, commitment, his input on the development of the game and general sportsmanship will be looked at.The team manager will be judged on his general organisation of the team, the submission of player cards, registration of players, overall communication with league authorities and the timeous provision of team sheets to the media.The awards will be held at the Nampower Convention Centre from 19h00.Before the ballot, each coach will be expected to nominate a player that he or she thinks has performed well over the season, but are not allowed to nominate players from their clubs.The Player of the Season will get the biggest share on the night, while other award winners will get at least N$10 000 each for their efforts.Rukoro said the Top Goalscorer will get N$10 000, which in this case will be Civics frontman William Chilufya who scored 17 goals from 22 matches this season.There is also an award for the Young Player of the Season and he will be pocketing N$10 000, while the Referee of the Season, Team of the Season, Team manager of the Season and Coach of the Season will all get N$10 000 each.The Administrator of the Season will receive N$5 000, while the recipient of the President’s Special Contribution award will also pocket N$5 000.The president of the NFA, John Muinjo, also decides on who receives the Administrator of the Year award according to Rukoro.He said Muinjo would have the sole discretion on deciding who the best administrator is among his personnel in the various leagues.The International award which is awarded to any foreign-based player who has performed well for the country includes N$5 000.Other awards include the League of the Season which will be given to any of the current leagues in the country at the discretion of the NFA and it carries a prize-tag of N$5 000.The media awards will be determined by the officials of the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC) and will see the winner in the television sector going home with N$10 000, the best radio presenter, also with N$10 000, while the best print journalist will be given a similar amount.The top six teams in the NPL will all be receiving handsome amounts, with Civics as the champions the biggest beneficiaries, as they stand to walk away with N$500 000.Rukoro explained that the Coach of the Season and the Team manager of the Season awards would not necessarily be from the league champions.He said for the coach, the criteria is that he will be judged on his overall performance throughout the league and other aspects such as dedication, commitment, his input on the development of the game and general sportsmanship will be looked at.The team manager will be judged on his general organisation of the team, the submission of player cards, registration of players, overall communication with league authorities and the timeous provision of team sheets to the media.The awards will be held at the Nampower Convention Centre from 19h00.