Paulus ‘Wire’ Shipanga is one of many bright stars who emerged from Kuisebmond Primary School (KPS) considered by many the coastal school of football excellence.
The former livewire forward is just one of the top class footballers from KPS who went on to represent Namibia up to senior national team level. Ironically, Shipanga was almost lost to football, as he also excelled in sprints, hockey and rugby. However, he says the football influence from his schoolmates and community won in the end.
“I was a very versatile youngster. I actually grew up at Kuisebmond, basically doing all sorts of sports. I played hockey and I played a bit of volleyball at school, and I was a formidable athlete as well. I did the 100m and 200m sprints,” says the retired footballer.
“I tried all sorts of sports but I fell in love with football more and I don’t find it strange at all because Kuisebmond is a great football community. I decided to pursue football more and I did that during school and after school. I’m still making a living out of football.”
The young Shipanga found his first footballing home at Eleven Arrows, playing alongside the great Eliphas ‘Safile’ Shivute, Bobby Samaria and Kondjeni Tjilale.
“I first joined Blue Waters but I found the going too tough because, apart from being regarded as too young still, it was difficult to break into the first 11 because they had star forwards like the Muaine brothers, Striker and the late Munyanda.
There was also Karasa Mupupa,” Shipanga says. “It was always going to be difficult to get in the first 11 because those were household forwards who were also loved by the team’s fans. I started off at Young Eleven, Arrows’ feeder team, and when I was promoted to the first team, I grabbed the opportunity with both hands.”
His displays in the Arrows team didn’t go unnoticed; Blue Waters elders visited his house and told Shipanga’s mother that the young player belonged with the blue and white outfit instead of the maroon and gold of crosstown rivals Arrows.
WINNING ACROSS ERAS
Shipanga is one of the few local coaches who won the league as both a player and a coach.
He first won the league with Blue Waters under the successful tenure of former owner Hendrick Davids, who was also in charge of the Orlando Pirates when they won the league.
And Shipanga, who electrified the pitch as a winger in his heyday, speaks fondly about his coaching tenure with the now relegated Black Africa in 2019, undoubtedly Namibia’s most successful team.
“Being a coach, winning the league is the ultimate goal. Ranga Haikali, who was Black Africa’s boss at the time, approached me sometime ago but I was reluctant to join given the club’s rich history. I just felt that I was still too inexperienced to coach a team of that magnitude,” he notes.
“I told him I wasn’t ready because of the tremendous pressure that comes with the job. I was only used to coaching teams where I could feel less pressure and where I could carry on with my duties in a more relaxed atmosphere. But I decided to take up the challenge a year later.”
He points out that joining Black Africa at the time was a masterstroke; they had a quality squad and he worked with Arnold Subeb, who was his assistant as well as the goalkeeper coach, while the fitness aspect of the players was taken care of by Alfred Ndyenge.
It was a whirlwind season for the team, who won the season with three matches to spare.
Shipanga, who was also utilised as a striker throughout his career, is one of few players who played for Namibia at all levels – from the juniors all the way to the senior national team.
His first senior national team call-up came in 1998, but he was considered too young to make the cut for the class of ‘98 squad that made history by becoming the first Namibian team to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Burkina Faso.
“I was lucky enough to be noticed by teams in the South African professional soccer league and I got signed by Wits University together with Danzyl Bruwer and Richard Gariseb. I played alongside players like Eric Tinkler, who is today a coach as well,” Shipanga recalls.
“In fact, my best time with the Brave Warriors was when I was playing in South Africa. I gave Zimbabwean defender Onismor Bhasera a torrid time at left back. I scored against Kaizer Chiefs the week before we played Zimbabwe and I scored again against Zimbabwe.”
Shipanga, who describes himself as a technical player during his heyday, also had a stint with Bay United in South Africa’s Premiere Soccer League before he jetted to southeast Asia in 2006 to join professional football club Sabah FC in the Malaysia Super League.
HOPES FOR THE FUTURE
The two-time league winner insists that he is happy with his contribution to football as a player and that his journey as a coach is just getting started.
Shipanga married Samantha Shipanga in 2012 and the couple is blessed with four children.
“I have a very supportive family and I actually thank them for that because they understand that with my job as a coach I will be travelling away from home.
Besides my job as Blue Waters coach, I am also running a fitness bootcamp for people to come and train,” he says.
“I am also much more into team building. I am one of those coaches that, besides winning games, I also want to change people’s lives, also my own players’ lives so that they can remember me more. Because football is a very short career. I will prepare them for life after football.”
Shipanga is also a motivational speaker who ultimately wants to effect positive change.
His dream to coach the Brave Warriors one day came true when he got a taste of working with the senior men’s team after being appointed as assistant to Bobby Samaria for the national team that participated in the 2023 Afcon qualifiers.
The former Tura Magic coach was also head coach of the women’s senior national team, the Brave Gladiators.
Shipanga has long been inspired by coach Lucky Shipanga, and dreams of obtaining his UEFA coaching licence, enabling him to work in professional leagues internationally.
“I have to admit that I never even thought about becoming a coach one day after my retirement from playing. However, on one day upon my return from South Africa, Blue Waters were in a very bad shape; they were languishing at the 16th spot in the league,” Shipanga says.
“Lucky Shipanga was the coach at the time and the team management asked me to be acting player coach. We did quite well and we steered the team to a more respectable third place finish on the log standings.
Now that was the time that Paulus Shipanga the coach was born.”
Shipanga advises young players to stay humble and take note of the work ethics of Namibia’s two professionals in South Africa, Peter Shalulile and Deon Hotto.
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