N$120 000 for Coca-Cola

Frank Fredericks Invitational Coca Cola will sponsor the Coca-Cola Frank Fredericks Athletics Invitational, which takes place on April 5, to an amount of N$120 000 this year.

This was announced by Coca-Cola’s marketing manager Maguire Mulder at the competition’s launch in the capital yesterday. “We believe that a healthy body makes a healthy mind and by sponsoring this event we are contributing towards that while also showing that we want to invest in the community,” he said.”This is the 12th year that we are sponsoring this event and we are happy that we can do that with Frank Fredericks, who has a quality name, like our product Coca-Cola, and is known all over the world,” he said.Namibia’s top junior athletes will compete in the event, irrespective of their age groups.The top eight athletes for each event will be invited to the meeting, while there will also be a few selected senior events.”We came up with this idea of pitting the best athletes against each other, irrespective of their age groups, to see who is the best in Namibia.The best athletes will also receive scholarships from the Frank Fredericks Foundation,” Frank Fredericks said.Coca-Cola has put aside N$25 000 of the total sponsorship which will go towards scholarships for promising athletes.The recipients will be selected in accordance with the IAAF’s international ranking system, while also taking into account performances at international and continental level.Half of the sponsorship will go towards sport, while the other half must go towards education.Fredericks said that it was important that athletes also further their studies.”When I was an athlete people used to ask me why do I study all the time if I can make more money as an athlete.But I was always worried about what would happen if I broke my leg and couldn’t perform anymore,” he said.About 60 junior athletes have been awarded scholarships since the start of the competition 12 years ago, but Fredericks mentioned that they were considering changing the format.”During these 12 years only two athletes have come through the programme and excelled at a higher level, namely Sherwin Vries and Tjipe Herunga.We have to find out why there are not more coming through and maybe we will have to change the funding format, whereby we give bigger scholarships for fewer athletes.But at the same time, we don’t want to deny athletes a chance of furthering their education,” he said.The meeting will start at 17h00 at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium and continue through to 20h15.Namibia Sport”We believe that a healthy body makes a healthy mind and by sponsoring this event we are contributing towards that while also showing that we want to invest in the community,” he said.”This is the 12th year that we are sponsoring this event and we are happy that we can do that with Frank Fredericks, who has a quality name, like our product Coca-Cola, and is known all over the world,” he said.Namibia’s top junior athletes will compete in the event, irrespective of their age groups.The top eight athletes for each event will be invited to the meeting, while there will also be a few selected senior events.”We came up with this idea of pitting the best athletes against each other, irrespective of their age groups, to see who is the best in Namibia.The best athletes will also receive scholarships from the Frank Fredericks Foundation,” Frank Fredericks said.Coca-Cola has put aside N$25 000 of the total sponsorship which will go towards scholarships for promising athletes.The recipients will be selected in accordance with the IAAF’s international ranking system, while also taking into account performances at international and continental level.Half of the sponsorship will go towards sport, while the other half must go towards education.Fredericks said that it was important that athletes also further their studies.”When I was an athlete people used to ask me why do I study all the time if I can make more money as an athlete.But I was always worried about what would happen if I broke my leg and couldn’t perform anymore,” he said.About 60 junior athletes have been awarded scholarships since the start of the competition 12 years ago, but Fredericks mentioned that they were considering changing the format.”During these 12 years only two athletes have come through the programme and excelled at a higher level, namely Sherwin Vries and Tjipe Herunga.We have to find out why there are not more coming through and maybe we will have to change the funding format, whereby we give bigger scholarships for fewer athletes.But at the same time, we don’t want to deny athletes a chance of furthering their education,” he said.The meeting will start at 17h00 at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium and continue through to 20h15.Namibia Sport