Mengo signs with Kampong

NAMIBIAN star hockey player Magy Mengo’s international career is blossoming, as she recently secured a lucrative deal with Kampong, a premier-league side in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

The Namibian has already secured her first medal when the team came third to secure a bronze medal in a season-opening match at the Scapa tournament over the weekend. The 21-year-old Namibian left the country just over a year ago to carve herself a career in the sport, while following studies in financial management.The Namibian Sport established at the weekend that Mengo was approached by Rob Bianchi, who is the assistant national coach of the Netherlands and head coach of Kampong, to join the high-profile team.Mengo was spotted by the highly regarded coach during a friendly match against Spandersbosch and he was immediately impressed with her performance, describing her as exceptionally talented.After a few conversations and a test practice session, Mengo made the transfer from her old club in Hilversum to her new club in Utrecht.When Mengo made the transfer from Spandersbosch (second division) to Kampong (premier league) she made history by becoming the first Namibian to compete at the highest hockey level in the world.In an electronic mail message to The Namibian Sport, Mengo said life was totally different in the Netherlands, but she enjoyed playing the game and found her studies interesting.Mengo has at least four years to go before completing her studies, but her passion, she says, lies with the game of hockey and she would not rule out becoming a full-time player and coach in the future.Apart from hockey, Mengo, who is the daughter of former African Stars and national team great Oscar Mengo, plays basketball and sometimes tennis.She said her favourite hockey player is Maaitje Schepstra, who she says is the only black girl in the Dutch national team.”She always plays with her whole heart and I admire her skills.She is just good and has a friendly personality towards anyone and she plays in the same position that I play,” she said.Mengo plays number six, which is centre link or centre forward.Before she left for the Netherlands, Mengo represented Namibia on both the junior and senior national level and also scooped top awards in her career as a hockey player.She also played netball for the national team and Civics in Namibia and has been described as a fantastic sportswoman with an abundance of talent and a great sense of discipline.Mengo said she missed Namibia, her family and friends, but she first had to try to win the league with her new club before coming home for the holidays.She said she also missed hearing Namibian languages, but she had mastered Dutch.The 21-year-old Namibian left the country just over a year ago to carve herself a career in the sport, while following studies in financial management.The Namibian Sport established at the weekend that Mengo was approached by Rob Bianchi, who is the assistant national coach of the Netherlands and head coach of Kampong, to join the high-profile team.Mengo was spotted by the highly regarded coach during a friendly match against Spandersbosch and he was immediately impressed with her performance, describing her as exceptionally talented.After a few conversations and a test practice session, Mengo made the transfer from her old club in Hilversum to her new club in Utrecht.When Mengo made the transfer from Spandersbosch (second division) to Kampong (premier league) she made history by becoming the first Namibian to compete at the highest hockey level in the world.In an electronic mail message to The Namibian Sport, Mengo said life was totally different in the Netherlands, but she enjoyed playing the game and found her studies interesting.Mengo has at least four years to go before completing her studies, but her passion, she says, lies with the game of hockey and she would not rule out becoming a full-time player and coach in the future.Apart from hockey, Mengo, who is the daughter of former African Stars and national team great Oscar Mengo, plays basketball and sometimes tennis.She said her favourite hockey player is Maaitje Schepstra, who she says is the only black girl in the Dutch national team.”She always plays with her whole heart and I admire her skills.She is just good and has a friendly personality towards anyone and she plays in the same position that I play,” she said.Mengo plays number six, which is centre link or centre forward.Before she left for the Netherlands, Mengo represented Namibia on both the junior and senior national level and also scooped top awards in her career as a hockey player.She also played netball for the national team and Civics in Namibia and has been described as a fantastic sportswoman with an abundance of talent and a great sense of discipline.Mengo said she missed Namibia, her family and friends, but she first had to try to win the league with her new club before coming home for the holidays.She said she also missed hearing Namibian languages, but she had mastered Dutch.