Players train during a skills session in Rundu.
THE annual Sanlam Namibia Schools hockey tournament for schools in Rundu took place at the local sports stadium last weekend. The tournament incorporates a two-day coaching course for coaches and a two-day coaching clinic for all participating players. This event was first introduced by the Hockey School of Excellence and Sanlam in 2004 with the main aim to develop the game of hockey in the Kavango region.
Hockey development in the Kavango region started in 1996 with the assistance of Pauline Yemm, a British volunteer. The region competed in the annual NHU Development Tournament from 1996 to 2002 and won various awards.
With Pauline’s departure in 2000 and the lack of equipment supply to the schools the game backslided as many schools stopped playing. Sanlam committed itself to develop the game in the Kavango region over the past five years and the future is looking good for hockey in the once feared region at the annual Namibia Hockey Union (NHU) National Development Tournaments. The NHU will re-introduce the National Development Tournaments as from this year when five regions, namely Okavango, Oshana, Karas, Erongo and the hosts Khomas will battle out in the u.12 and u.14 age groups for boys and girls at the 2008 National Development Tournament slated for September 27 in the capital.
Three hundred and twenty players and sixty officials are expected to take part in this event. The 2008 Sanlam schools tournament held last weekend in Rundu has been by far the biggest and most competitive yet. A record entry of 380 players representing 38 teams from 11 schools played 70 games on Saturday at the Rundu Stadium.
Noordgrens Secondary School set a new entry record when they entered 10 teams (from a single school) into the tournament replacing the old record of six teams set by Kasote in 2006. Eight trophies were at stake in the u.12, u.14, u.16 and u.18 age groups for boys and girls. Of the six trophies, Noordgrens and Rudolf Ngondo each won three, underlining their domina-tion of this year’s tournament.
This event also served as trials for the u.12 and u.14 boys and girls teams that will compete and the NHU Development Tournament September. The biggest shortcoming for the development of the game in the Okavango region is equipment. At least 200 sticks, 150 balls and 15 goalkeeper sets are needed to contribute to the continuous player development at large. The full results were as follows:
U.12 Boys: 1. Kehemu. 2. Rudolf Ngondo U.12 Girls: 1. Rundu SP. 2. Noordgrens. 3. Rudolf Ngondo U.14 Boys: 1. Rudolf Ngondo. 2. Kehemu. 3. Sauyemwa. U.14 Girls: 1. Rudolf Ngondo. 2. Maria Mwengere. 3. Noordgrens. U.16 Boys: 1. Rudolf Ngondo. 2. Uvungu vungu U.16 Girls: 1. Noordgrens. 2. Maria Mwengere. 3. Sauyemwa U.18 Boys: 1. Noordgrens U.18 Girls: 1. Noordgrens
