Pre-independence football star recalls glory days

Pre-independence Namibia had its share of exceptional football players but only a few were lucky enough to captain at club, regional and national level.

Former Tigers central defender and long-standing captain Mentos ‘Metu’ Hipondoka was gifted with a great football brain, enabling him to read the minds of opposition strikers.

The clean tackler also had great speed and will will go down as one of the most disciplined players of his era, having only been sent off once in his close to 20-year career.

Unlike most boys who grow up in the townships and first start playing football before starting school, the former football star first started playing at Mandume Primary School before being introduced to street football.

“It worked the other way around for me. I first started playing football in the schoolyard of Mandume before I moved on to Namutoni Senior Primary School. We used to play with a tennis ball. If there was no ball, we would play with a makeshift ball,” he says.

Hipondoka credits his late uncle Kallat Kakololo for helping to hone his skills.

“He was a great player with Tigers and my biggest critic. He would watch us play and go correct my mistakes at home. He was very demanding but helpful.”

Hipondoka first played for his suburban team Donkerhoek, which used to engage in stake games (two teams challenge each with money and the winner takes all) against Ligtehoek, before he joined Pepsi II that served as the unofficial feeder team for Tigers.

“It was never easy making it into the big clubs without the recommendation of the elders who would be scouting for players around the location. It was very tough at the time, with no decent training facilities. It was a special moment stepping out on the Katutura Stadium pitch.

Hipondoka says unlike today, when players have proper training facilities, decent football boots and training, they used to sleep in classrooms.

“They camp in hotels and guest houses while we used to camp in the classrooms and slept on the floor or on the school chairs,” the former sweeper says.

Hipondoka played two or three matches for the Tigers reserve before he and his close friend, Johannes ‘Kuumy’ Umati, were promoted to the first team.

He grabbed this opportunity with both hands before going on to skipper the country’s oldest club for almost two decades.

The bow-legged defender was still at school when he was called to the national invitation team that played star-studded South African glamour boys Kaizer Chiefs in a friendly at a capacity filled Katutura Stadium in the late-70s.

It was just the beginning of bigger things to come for the former right-winger turned sweeper and one of the best in the business.

He became a regular for any of the NNSL Invitational XI or Zebra teams that participated in the South African provincial tournaments, the Curry Cup and the Impala Cup.

“I really enjoyed playing for the country during those tough encounters in the Currie Cup. There was no time to play around in that multi-racial tournament. It was very physical and child’s play. We always had many players returning injured after the Currie Cup.

“The biannual provincial Impala Cup was more relaxed because it was contested by what were known as the bantustan or black homelands. We competed very hard because they almost played the same style as us, besides the fact that they were a little slower,” Hipondoka recalls.

The Augustineum High School matriculant played for the Golden Bees hostel team, and was also a sprinter who shone in the 400m at regional competitions.

The speedstar led Tigers to success in several competitions, the most prestigious being the inaugural Namibia National Soccer League (NNSL) in 1985.

Hipondoka, who was well-known for his commitment on the football pitch, also lifted the Impala Cup a few times as captain of the pre-independence South West Africa side.

The retired player, who characterises his playing style on skills and technical ability, was also captain of the Zebra team that lifted the Impala Cup a few times,

“One of my football regrets is that I did not go on to play professional football in South Africa. I was approached by former South African football giants, Moroka Swallows, after we beat them with the NNSL Invitational side at the Independence Stadium,” he says.

“They had a very powerful team with star players like Alfred ‘KK’ Lentsoane, Samuel ‘Happy Cow’ Nkomo, Aubrey ‘The Great’ Makhubela and Thomas Hlongwane, but the late Tigers chairman, Elliot ‘Hampau’ Hiskia, talked me out of the deal because I just started my teaching career.”

The retired footballer never married but he is a father of 12 – six boys and six girls.

He is currently enjoying his retirement after many years as a geography and physical science teacher, first at Immanuel Shifidi Secondary School in Katutura, then as the deputy principal at Ambili Combined School at Ondangwa West in the Oshana region.

“I returned to Windhoek after three years in northern Namibia and I joined the adult education literacy programme for another three years and then I resigned. They say once a teacher, always a teacher and I returned to teaching at Friedrich Awaseb Secondary School at Grootfontein.

“That was my last teaching assignment. I also coached football at the schools I was teaching at, and I even had a short coaching stint at Tigers as an assistant coach to my former teammate Boy-Boy Ndjadila,” Hipondoka says.

He believes Namibia had its share of good players and although it’s unfair to pick one as the best player, he was always fascinated by the football brain and level of confidence displayed by late Black Africa midfield playmaker Albert ‘Boetie’ Louw.

He also mentions his former teammate Kuumy Umati as the person with the biggest influence on his football career, while his best friend at school, Rusten ‘Sukhile’ Mogane, also played a part in making a better player.

Hipondoka’s advice to the young players is to work hard, train hard and apply discipline.

“If you want to become good, you must always respect yourself. I used to read books of the great Pele of Brazil, where he always urged players to respect soccer more than soccer will respect you,” the former Tigers captain says.

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