THE Namibia Ice and Inline Hockey Federation (Niiha) is currently preparing to host the inaugural Africa Cup which will take place at The Dome in Swakopmund from 23 to 27 May.
According to a press release issued by Niiha, the idea of the Africa Cup came about last year when the president of the World Inline Hockey Association (Wiha), Gilbert Portier, visited Namibia to inspect and evaluate the facilities at The Dome, as a potential host for the 2018 Inline Hockey World Championship.
Although the facilities were approved, Namibia’s bid failed due to the requirement of a substantial foreign currency denominated security deposit.
The idea of a local event with international participation was then proposed and took form under the guidance of Brian Sopel, coach of Coastal Pirates; Dave Hammond of The Dome; and Heike Dedig and Trish Hammond of Niiha.
They came up with the idea to host a local event with international participation, and when the owners of The Dome, Horst Fritze and Paul van Biljon agreed to host the Africa Cup, the planning and organisation of the event got underway.
The Africa Cup will now pave the way for Namibia to become a potential host of the World Inline Hockey Championships, while it will also showcase the talent of Namibian players and the development of the sport in Namibia.
“Should Namibia be able to successfully present the Africa Cup this year, it is then planned to host it annually and to attract teams and individual players from all over the world to participate in the event,” the Niiha statement read.
The inaugural Africa Cup will see Namibian teams in action as well as three international club teams from Norway, Germany and South Africa.
The international teams are the SAS Bluebirds from Norway, the Taunus Wild Hogs from Germany and a club team from South Africa.
The Namibian teams that will participate include a team made up of American coaches who are currently residing in Namibia, who will team up with three Spanish, one Eritrean and one Canadian player. They will join forces to try and upset the Namibian national senior and junior men’s teams.
Besides that, a top American referee will officiate at the event, while he will also train local referees.
Namibia’s junior players will receive skills training, while Namibia’s national teams will receive the opportunity to network with international players and prepare themselves for upcoming international tournaments in San Jose, United States and Beijing, China.
Gilbert Portier, the president of Wiha, will also be present while the event will be live streamed with the link available on the Niiha and Africa Cup Facebook pages.
The Africa Cup has been made possible through sponsorships from Bank Windhoek, Spar Namibia, Swakopmund Hotel and Entertainment Centre, The Dome and Red Bull.
