Sport Star nominees named

THE Namibia Sport Commission has named 10 Namibian sportsmen and -women as candidates for a Sports Star of the Year award at the annual Sport Awards Ceremony on October 19.

The Sports Star of the Year award is a new category that aims to honour Namibia’s most popular sportsman or woman. According to the NSC, a nominee doesn’t necessarily have to be an active sportsman or -woman, but can also be someone who has done a lot for sport.Members of the public can vote for the eight nominees via SMS when the list of finalists is made public in the local media.The finalists include two rugby players – Namibian captain Kees Lensing and wing Ryan Witbooi, who won the man of the match award against Ireland on September 8.There are two soccer players – Collin Benjamin, who plays for Hamburg SV, and Rudolph Bester who won the Namibia Sport and NFA Player of the Season awards.There are two boxers in Paulus ‘The Hitman’ Moses, who retained his WBA Intercontinental lightweight title, and Jason Naule, who retained his Pan-African Junior Welterweight title.Agnes Samaria is the only female nominee.She won two medals at the All-Africa Games and reached the final of the 1 500m at the World Athletics Championships, where she came eighth.The eighth nominee is an interesting one – the national soccer coach, Ben Bamfuchile.Bamfuchile is not even a Namibian, hailing from Zambia, but he became a national hero overnight when he secured Namibia’s qualification to the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in ten years.When the Brave Warriors arrived home last week, Bamfuchile received a special welcome with fans singing “Big Ben, Big Ben” and “Ben for President.”The nominees for Namibia’s Sportsman and Woman as well as the other categories still have to be announced.- www.namibiasport.com.naAccording to the NSC, a nominee doesn’t necessarily have to be an active sportsman or -woman, but can also be someone who has done a lot for sport.Members of the public can vote for the eight nominees via SMS when the list of finalists is made public in the local media.The finalists include two rugby players – Namibian captain Kees Lensing and wing Ryan Witbooi, who won the man of the match award against Ireland on September 8.There are two soccer players – Collin Benjamin, who plays for Hamburg SV, and Rudolph Bester who won the Namibia Sport and NFA Player of the Season awards.There are two boxers in Paulus ‘The Hitman’ Moses, who retained his WBA Intercontinental lightweight title, and Jason Naule, who retained his Pan-African Junior Welterweight title.Agnes Samaria is the only female nominee.She won two medals at the All-Africa Games and reached the final of the 1 500m at the World Athletics Championships, where she came eighth.The eighth nominee is an interesting one – the national soccer coach, Ben Bamfuchile.Bamfuchile is not even a Namibian, hailing from Zambia, but he became a national hero overnight when he secured Namibia’s qualification to the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in ten years.When the Brave Warriors arrived home last week, Bamfuchile received a special welcome with fans singing “Big Ben, Big Ben” and “Ben for President.”The nominees for Namibia’s Sportsman and Woman as well as the other categories still have to be announced.- www.namibiasport.com.na