Bernard Scholtz was named as Namibia’s cricketer of the year at Cricket Namibia’s annual awards ceremony on Saturday evening.
The 24-year-old off spinner had a fine season, taking 59 wickets at an average of 28,23 in 34 matches, while his best performance came against Boland, where he had great figures of eight wickets for 116 runs in an innings and 13/182 in the match.
There were numerous other awards, with Wanderers winning the Three Ships Premier League; Zebras the First League and CCD Tigers 3 the Second League.
Zane Green won the U19 cricketer of the year award, Nico Davin won the U17 award, Shaun Fouche the U15 award and Nicol Lofty Eaton the U13 award.
Yasmeen Khan was the women’s cricketer of the year while Carmen Engelbrecht won the most improved women’s award and Wilka Mwatile the girl’s junior cricketer award.
Justus Hangula won the Kwata administrator of the year award and Walvis Bay Narraville Primary School, the Kwata school of the year award.
John Hayes of Narraville Primary received the President’s Award from Cricket Namibia president Richard Frankle, who thanked him for his invaluable development work at the coast.
Laurie Pieters, who stepped down as a long-serving cricket administrator was also honoured for his sacrifices and dedication towards cricket in Namibia.
He assisted Cricket Namibia as an acting CEO and when Dr Donovan Zealand was appointed to that position, he guided and advised him in his new role.
“He assisted us when we were looking for a CEO and when we appointed Donovan Zealand, he continued to assist the new CEO. Laurie organised the World Cricket League Division 2 tournament that Namibia hosted in January, and for which we received high accolades from the ICC for a job well done. No words can describe our gratitude – Laurie, you are an absolute legend,” Frankle said.
Dr Zealand also thanked Pieters for his guidance and hard work.
“Laurie Pieters is a mentor par excellence, he lives, breathes and sleeps cricket – cricket is his life, cricket is his oxygen. In the past six months I have learnt more about administration on the ground and how to deal with people than ever before,” he said.
Dr Zealand announced that the Sam van Wyk Trust would be revived to assist needy young cricketers.
“When Sam passed away the Cricket Board of Namibia established the Sam van Wyk Trust which aimed to assist needy cricketers. Unfortunately the trust was dormant for a long time, but the new board has now decided to revive the trust. Now we are well on our way to raise N$150 000 in the trust and it will go a long way to help us reach our objective,” he said.
Sport Commissioner Elize Peterson read an address by Deputy Minister of Sport Agnes Tjongarero in which she congratulated Cricket Namibia on its achievements and for contributing towards making Namibia a winning nation.
She however urged them to continue to improve and to aim higher.
“We must remember that success has always and will always be a moving target. If we want to compete against giants we have to act like giants and we must emulate giants. It requires us to raise our game to a standard that we have not reached before, we must go to places where we have never been… This requires a change in mindset, a change in our attitude and a change in behaviour. When we are on top of our game we must change our game,” she said.
Tjongarero said that the government was serious about improving sport in the country and was busy drafting a new Sport Plan.
“A draft Sport Plan is currently in the making and we are committed to improving the current sporting system. Furthermore as a Ministry we will also not compromise on the principles of Good Corporate Governance in Sport Administration. In order for this to be successful we need to commit ourselves to principles of fairness, merit and excellence. But our commitment to fairness, merit and excellence should not be blurred out by our ignorance into realities of history of sport in this country,” she said,” she said.
In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.
The Namibian uses AI tools to assist with improved quality, accuracy and efficiency, while maintaining editorial oversight and journalistic integrity.
Stay informed with The Namibian – your source for credible journalism. Get in-depth reporting and opinions for
only N$85 a month. Invest in journalism, invest in democracy –
Subscribe Now!
