The sport year in review

THE 2007 sport year did not produce a lot of exciting moments locally, and on the international front Namibia virtually made no impact.

The Namibian’s sport reporter, CORRY IHUHUA, looks at the high and lows of some of the major sport codes in the country. Namibia’s qualification to the 2008 African Nations Cup is the biggest football achievement this season.The hosting of the Cosafa Under-17 tournament is also a milestone for the football administrators and the country in general, despite the young team being bundled out of the tournament in the early stages.The progress of the under-20 national side led by Bobby Samaria to the semi-finals of their Cosafa competition in South Africa was also a major improvement compared to the previous years where they failed at the first hurdle.Women footballers have proved superior in their qualifiers against Botswana, but most importantly, they have improved their play and are now more confident on the ball and their administrators and technical staff are doing a fantastic job.The Brave Warriors qualification also came with its lows as the team is bound for the finals to Ghana without coach Ben Bamfuchile, who took the team through all the qualifiers.COACHING SAGA Bamfuchile has been ill for some time now, but the Namibia Football Association (NFA) has found a replacement for him in Dutch football instructor, Arie Schans.Schans is currently with the team in Germany for a training camp and so far, it looks like he will be the man who will be shouting instructions from the bench in Ghana, despite the insistence of the NFA that Bamfuchile will make the trip to the event.The Namibia Premier League (NPL) has never been as interesting as now, as the battle for the title is so intense.Teams such as Eleven Arrows and Sport Klub Windhoek (SKW) have improved two-fold compared to the last season and are among the front-runners for the league title this season.SKW are places second behind Ramblers and Arrows are fourth, after already occupying the first spot a few weeks back.Blue Waters are finding the ride too tough in the league and are tucked in the second last position and major improvements will be needed next year if they want to avoid the chop.The NPL should also resolve the issue of Black Africa and African Stars before the matches resume next year to avoid delays in the kick-off.TICKET SCANDAL The Namibia Rugby Union, along with the NFA and Athletics Namibia, were the most controversial sporting bodies in the country this year.For rugby, it was no different this time around when the 2007 Rugby World Cup ticket scandal came to the fore just a few days before the kick off in France.The NRU was accused by one of its former employees, Pieter Fick, of selling tickets at higher prices in South Africa, a move which was contravening the regulations of the sales.As a result, Namibia was told that they will not receive any tickets for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.That scandal even brought the NRU and Fick in front of a parliamentary standing committee and the case is currently with the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC).The whole ticket debacle brought shame to Namibian rugby and the image of the country in general.The national rugby side, despite qualifying for the tournament in great style, did their best in France, but lost all their opening matches.SOLE SAMARIA The same individuals keep on popping up in this code and this year it was once again Agnes Samaria who won medals at the All Africa Games and was crowned as the Sportswoman of the Year for yet another time.Samaria complained of getting little support from the athletics authorities when she is competing on the international scene.She said she does all her paperwork and competes without a coach by her side.She pays for most her expenses but is being supported by MTC.The promising Tjipekapora Herunga had a great season on the track and walked away with the Junior Sportswoman of the Year award.But Athletics Namibia blundered when it left out two of the country’s top athletes, Tangeni Akwenye and Frank Puriza, who are both based in the United States, from the All-Africa games squad.Hilaria Johannes and Reinhold Iita were once again dominant on the long distance circuit.BUSIEST The Namibian professional boxers were possibly the busiest sportsmen this year, with Paulus ‘The Hitman’ Moses and Jason ‘Taks’ Naule defending their titles successfully while a host of others also producing solid results.Most of these boxers hail from the stable of Nestor ‘Sunshine’ Tobias, who has been their trainer and promoter at the same time.Tobias is the most successful promoter in the country and his record speaks volumes considering the number of local boxers he has turned into instant champions.Telecom Namibia is the main sponsor of professional and amateur boxing and will be required to invest more money into this sport.The Namibian cricket team has also been busy and they competed favourably well in the several top-class events.They were involved in the South African Airways Challenge, the ICC Intercontinental Cup and the ICC World Division II competition.SWIMMERS GREAT Namibian swimmers have possibly made the biggest strides this year, as Namibia was represented at the Swimming World Championships in Australia this year.A lot will be expected from these young swimmers within the next few years as most of them are talented and can become world champions.The inline hockey team missed out on a place at next year’s World Championships, but returned with gold medals after winning the South American Inline Hockey Championships recently.The Total Tara Rally was the biggest event on the motoring calendar for the year and attracted a great number of spectators.In tennis, Namibia hosted an International Tennis Federation (ITF) event which featured the continent’s top tennis players, with Namibia’s Jurgens Strydom losing in the final.For next year, the Namibian Government and the private sector should invest more in sport.Government of course has other important priorities, but the big conglomerates in the country sitting on millions, if not billions, should stand up and show their support.Namibia’s qualification to the 2008 African Nations Cup is the biggest football achievement this season.The hosting of the Cosafa Under-17 tournament is also a milestone for the football administrators and the country in general, despite the young team being bundled out of the tournament in the early stages.The progress of the under-20 national side led by Bobby Samaria to the semi-finals of their Cosafa competition in South Africa was also a major improvement compared to the previous years where they failed at the first hurdle.Women footballers have proved superior in their qualifiers against Botswana, but most importantly, they have improved their play and are now more confident on the ball and their administrators and technical staff are doing a fantastic job.The Brave Warriors qualification also came with its lows as the team is bound for the finals to Ghana without coach Ben Bamfuchile, who took the team through all the qualifiers.COACHING SAGA Bamfuchile has been ill for some time now, but the Namibia Football Association (NFA) has found a replacement for him in Dutch football instructor, Arie Schans.Schans is currently with the team in Germany for a training camp and so far, it looks like he will be the man who will be shouting instructions from the bench in Ghana, despite the insistence of the NFA that Bamfuchile will make the trip to the event.The Namibia Premier League (NPL) has never been as interesting as now, as the battle for the title is so intense.Teams such as Eleven Arrows and Sport Klub Windhoek (SKW) have improved two-fold compared to the last season and are among the front-runners for the league title this season.SKW are places second behind Ramblers and Arrows are fourth, after already occupying the first spot a few weeks back.Blue Waters are finding the ride too tough in the league and are tucked in the second last position and major improvements will be needed next year if they want to avoid the chop.The NPL should also
resolve the issue of Black Africa and African Stars before the matches resume next year to avoid delays in the kick-off.TICKET SCANDAL The Namibia Rugby Union, along with the NFA and Athletics Namibia, were the most controversial sporting bodies in the country this year.For rugby, it was no different this time around when the 2007 Rugby World Cup ticket scandal came to the fore just a few days before the kick off in France.The NRU was accused by one of its former employees, Pieter Fick, of selling tickets at higher prices in South Africa, a move which was contravening the regulations of the sales.As a result, Namibia was told that they will not receive any tickets for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.That scandal even brought the NRU and Fick in front of a parliamentary standing committee and the case is currently with the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC).The whole ticket debacle brought shame to Namibian rugby and the image of the country in general.The national rugby side, despite qualifying for the tournament in great style, did their best in France, but lost all their opening matches.SOLE SAMARIA The same individuals keep on popping up in this code and this year it was once again Agnes Samaria who won medals at the All Africa Games and was crowned as the Sportswoman of the Year for yet another time.Samaria complained of getting little support from the athletics authorities when she is competing on the international scene.She said she does all her paperwork and competes without a coach by her side.She pays for most her expenses but is being supported by MTC.The promising Tjipekapora Herunga had a great season on the track and walked away with the Junior Sportswoman of the Year award.But Athletics Namibia blundered when it left out two of the country’s top athletes, Tangeni Akwenye and Frank Puriza, who are both based in the United States, from the All-Africa games squad.Hilaria Johannes and Reinhold Iita were once again dominant on the long distance circuit.BUSIEST The Namibian professional boxers were possibly the busiest sportsmen this year, with Paulus ‘The Hitman’ Moses and Jason ‘Taks’ Naule defending their titles successfully while a host of others also producing solid results.Most of these boxers hail from the stable of Nestor ‘Sunshine’ Tobias, who has been their trainer and promoter at the same time.Tobias is the most successful promoter in the country and his record speaks volumes considering the number of local boxers he has turned into instant champions.Telecom Namibia is the main sponsor of professional and amateur boxing and will be required to invest more money into this sport.The Namibian cricket team has also been busy and they competed favourably well in the several top-class events.They were involved in the South African Airways Challenge, the ICC Intercontinental Cup and the ICC World Division II competition.SWIMMERS GREAT Namibian swimmers have possibly made the biggest strides this year, as Namibia was represented at the Swimming World Championships in Australia this year.A lot will be expected from these young swimmers within the next few years as most of them are talented and can become world champions.The inline hockey team missed out on a place at next year’s World Championships, but returned with gold medals after winning the South American Inline Hockey Championships recently.The Total Tara Rally was the biggest event on the motoring calendar for the year and attracted a great number of spectators.In tennis, Namibia hosted an International Tennis Federation (ITF) event which featured the continent’s top tennis players, with Namibia’s Jurgens Strydom losing in the final.For next year, the Namibian Government and the private sector should invest more in sport.Government of course has other important priorities, but the big conglomerates in the country sitting on millions, if not billions, should stand up and show their support.