Squash juniors head down south

TOMORROW morning 36 young Namibian squash players will complete a 17-hour journey to take part in the South African Country Schools Invitation Squash event in Bloemfontein.

The event, which takes place over the long weekend, features boys and girls in under-13, -14, -16 and -19 age groups from Swakopmund, Walvis Bay and Windhoek, who will fight it out on court with 200 juniors from all over South Africa.
The best players from the event will be selected for the South African National Team tournament in June.
With sponsorship for the squad secured from The Namibian newspaper, head coach and Namibian number two player Tyc Kakehongo is confident about his squad’s chances.
‘I’m very excited as this year’s team has a lot of new players. It’s great for them to get this kind of exposure and the sense of anticipation among the group is high,’ he said.
Kakehongo added that he is excited ‘to see how the players cope with playing in the tournament’ and pointed out that he is especially interested to watch the progress of Michelle Spencer in the Under-19 girls, Danie Greef in the under-16 boys, and Andrew Forrest, ‘our top player’, in the last year he can play in this event.
During the pre-tour meet and greet on Tuesday evening at Wanderers, Namibian Squash Association Head, Gerdus Louwrens, pointed out that the group of 36 was the largest in the seven years that Namibian players have been taking part in the event and this was a sign of the growth and strength of squash in the country.
Also present was Charles Nyambe of the Namibian Sports Commission (NSC), who urged the players to represent Namibia well.
‘Be gracious on court, have respect for your opponents, but do not fear them,’ he said.
Kakehongo echoed Nyambe’s sentiments, saying he hoped ‘the youngsters will be motivated to work even harder to realise their potential after taking part. I also hope the whole tour is fun and adventurous for all of the juniors.’
chrisbuckland@rocketmail.com