The Namibia National Olympic Committee and Commonwealth Games Association (NNOC-CGA), in partnership with the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) yesterday announced a US$50 000 (approximately N$800 000) Olympic Solidarity Team Support Grant for Namibia’s Women’s Rugby Sevens team on its way towards qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
The funding represents a significant investment in women’s high-performance sport in Namibia and will support a structured programme aimed at strengthening the national Women’s Rugby Sevens programme, improving international competitiveness and establishing a sustainable pathway towards Olympic qualification.
The grant will support targeted areas of preparation, including athlete development, technical and coaching support, training camps, competition exposure and other high-performance interventions required to progressively prepare the team for the LA28 qualification pathway.
NNOC-CGA CEO Anri Parker welcomed the support, describing it as an important example of how international Olympic funding can be translated into tangible opportunities for Namibian athletes.
“This US$50 000 investment is about much more than funding a team. It is about creating an opportunity for Namibian women to compete, develop and ultimately challenge for a place on the Olympic stage. Our responsibility as the NNOC-CGA is to ensure that opportunities available through the Olympic Movement are translated into meaningful programmes for our athletes and National Federations,” Parker says.
Parker adds that the initiative forms part of the NNOC-CGA’s broader Road to LA28 strategy, which seeks to identify realistic Olympic qualification opportunities early and work alongside national federations to establish structured, measurable pathways for athletes and teams.
“High performance cannot begin a few months before major games. If Namibia wants to compete successfully internationally, we have to identify our opportunities early and invest strategically in them. LA28 is now firmly on the horizon, and this programme gives women’s rugby an opportunity to build towards that objective over the next two years.”
Namibia Rugby Union CEO John Heynes welcomes the grant as an important catalyst for the continued development of women’s rugby in Namibia.
“The US$50 000 Olympic Solidarity Support provides Namibia Rugby with an important opportunity to accelerate the development of our Women’s Sevens programme. Our focus will be on creating a structured and sustainable high-performance environment that gives our female players the preparation, competition exposure and technical support required to compete at an increasingly higher international level,” Heynes says.
Heynes emphasises that while LA28 represents an important performance objective, the investment will have a much broader and longer-term impact on women’s rugby in Namibia.
“LA28 provides us with a clear long-term objective, but the value of this programme extends well beyond Olympic qualification. It is about strengthening the entire women’s rugby pathway in Namibia, inspiring more girls to participate in the sport and creating opportunities for talented athletes to progress from grassroots and development structures into national and international competition.”
