Spain win Mini World Cup

SPAIN were the big winners at the Mini World Cup hockey tournament that took place for the 11th successive year at the Doc Jubber fields in Windhoek over the weekend.

Spain won five of the eight age groups that were contested to finish as the overall winners, while England came second overall and Australia third overall.The Ambassadorial Trophy that included aspects like the best song or dance, the best spirit, mascot, decorations and cultural presentations of the countries was won by Holland, with Spain coming second and England third.More than 400 children competed in the tournament that has developed into one of the major youth hockey events in Namibia over the past few years.As is customary, children from various Windhoek schools represented different countries, with St Paul’s representing Spain, Windhoek Gymnasium representing England, St George’s representing Holland, Windhoek Afrikaanse Privaatskool representing Australia, and Pionierspark Primary representing the United States.Scotland and Germany were represented by mixed schools.The tournament started on Friday evening with the opening ceremony when the various teams gave presentations of their countries, and although the weather was freezing, the children’s enthusiastic performances certainly warmed the hearts of the hundreds of parents and onlookers who were present.Saturday morning opened with the march-on at 07h30, as the children marched past, waving flags of their adopted countries, while many also sported their countries’ flags on their faces.The action got underway shortly afterwards and for the rest of the day, the Doc Jubber fields were turned into a hive of activity as more than 400 children competed in close to 100 matches.The matches were contested with enthusiasm and determination but in the end hockey was the big winner as the children and their parents all had a full filled day to remember.Trevor Cormack of the organisers Namibia Sport Dynamics, thanked Coca-Cola, who have been sponsoring the tournament for the past few years and said the tournament was all about enjoyment and promoting hockey.’After the first year we thought, why do we do this, but when you see what happened throughout the day, and the kids cheering and enjoying the day, then you know that’s what it’s all about. Every year we ask whether we will do it again but when we look at what joy it brings to the kids and what talent is showcased, I think we will continue for 11 more years,’ he said.- namibiasport.com.na