Old Mutual football, netball champs on

OLD Mutual Namibia has injected N$80 000 into this year’s Far North football and netball championships at Oshakati.

The qualifying matches will start this week. The annual event, of which Old Mutual is the official sponsor, was launched in 2004 in conjunction with the Ministry of Sport.Schools from the Oshikoto, Ohangwena, Oshana and Omusati regions are expected to compete for top honours.The Deputy Director of Education in the Oshikoto Region, Andre Struwig, last week said football and netball skills development was needed in northern regions to ensure that children can compete on national level.The winning netball and football teams on September 16 will walk away with N$2 000, while the runners-up will take home N$1 000 and the third-best teams will receive N$500.The 2005 edition saw Mweshipandeka Senior Secondary school winning the football trophy, while Eengedjo Senior Secondary school took the netball trophy.Additional prizes for the winning schools include a photocopier worth N$15 000 from Nashua, a computer to the value of N$8 000 from Business Connexion and stationery to the value of N$1 000 from Waltons.The tournament is only one among two which are held in the country each year.The Coca Cola Youth Cup is the other tournament for high schools, but it only caters for football.The other regional tournamentis The Namibian Newspaper Cup which is held for football players under the age of 20 years and is also played each year.The Coca Youth Cup will also be played in Oshakati this Wednesday.The annual event, of which Old Mutual is the official sponsor, was launched in 2004 in conjunction with the Ministry of Sport.Schools from the Oshikoto, Ohangwena, Oshana and Omusati regions are expected to compete for top honours.The Deputy Director of Education in the Oshikoto Region, Andre Struwig, last week said football and netball skills development was needed in northern regions to ensure that children can compete on national level.The winning netball and football teams on September 16 will walk away with N$2 000, while the runners-up will take home N$1 000 and the third-best teams will receive N$500.The 2005 edition saw Mweshipandeka Senior Secondary school winning the football trophy, while Eengedjo Senior Secondary school took the netball trophy.Additional prizes for the winning schools include a photocopier worth N$15 000 from Nashua, a computer to the value of N$8 000 from Business Connexion and stationery to the value of N$1 000 from Waltons.The tournament is only one among two which are held in the country each year.The Coca Cola Youth Cup is the other tournament for high schools, but it only caters for football.The other regional tournamentis The Namibian Newspaper Cup which is held for football players under the age of 20 years and is also played each year.The Coca Youth Cup will also be played in Oshakati this Wednesday.