Celebrating Utokero Athletics Club
UAC, founded in August, is doing its part in grooming the next stars.
LIMBA MUPETAMI
The Utokero Athletics Club (UAC) from Kavango West Region, founded by Egidius Nambara and Jonas Sintjapa, is doing exceptionally well in scouting and developing the next crop of track stars.
Nambara is the current chairperson of the club and Sintjapa the vice-chairperson. The club currently has 15 athletes, mainly track runners ranging from sprinting to long distance.
AUC participated in its first athletics competition organised by Athletics Namibia (AN) on 23 October at Rietfontein in the Otjozondjupa Region.
The AN Grand Prix Leg 4 was a success for the club as its athletes put up strong performances against some of Namibia’s seasoned athletes. One of the club’s best female athletes, Martha Simuma, dominated the 1500 m and 3000 m events.
Simuma beat the national qualifying standards for both events and in the process qualified for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. She ran an impressive time of 5:10.31 in the 1500 m and 10:58.05 in the 3000 m.
Two of the club’s young athletes, Veronica Naingwendje and Siku Martin, qualified for the Region 5 Youth Games taking place in Maseru, Lesotho in December this year. The 17-year-old Naingwendje will compete in the 100 and 200 m while Martin, who is the same age, will compete in 1500 m and 5000 m.
Nambara said he was confident that these two athletes could also qualify for the Commonwealth Games with proper preparations.
“We came up with the idea to start an athletics club after the first National Youth Games held in 2018 in Windhoek. During that time, I was the head of delegation for Team Kavango West, while Sintjapa was the convener and team manager. The Kavango West Region did not perform well overall in all sport codes, however the region’s athletes demonstrated that they have talent and potential and it was only in athletics where the region managed to win a gold medal (Daniel Ntjamba in 1500 m).
“The other thing was that the region did not have an existing club where potential athletes could join after they are no longer eligible to take part in the Youth Games. On top of that, we were also advised by the Namibia Sports Commission and AN to consider establishing athletics clubs in regions in order to identify talent for the national teams.
“We would like to help athletes in the region realise their dreams and we are excited that things are starting to fall into place and the qualification of some of our athletes for the national teams is a sign that the region is blessed with many uncovered talents.”
In terms of financing for the club, the founders and members are currently funding the club’s activities from their own pockets, and that is how the club was able to take part at the AN Grand Prix Leg 4. The club now plans to also take part in the upcoming Pupkewitz Foundation Athletics Championships that will be held from 22 to 23 December in Swakopmund.
“We are therefore appealing to the corporate world and sports lovers out there to come on board and assist the club with any kind of sponsorships in order for us to be able to include more athletes in the club,” said Nambara.
The Utokero Athletics Club (UAC) from Kavango West Region, founded by Egidius Nambara and Jonas Sintjapa, is doing exceptionally well in scouting and developing the next crop of track stars.
Nambara is the current chairperson of the club and Sintjapa the vice-chairperson. The club currently has 15 athletes, mainly track runners ranging from sprinting to long distance.
AUC participated in its first athletics competition organised by Athletics Namibia (AN) on 23 October at Rietfontein in the Otjozondjupa Region.
The AN Grand Prix Leg 4 was a success for the club as its athletes put up strong performances against some of Namibia’s seasoned athletes. One of the club’s best female athletes, Martha Simuma, dominated the 1500 m and 3000 m events.
Simuma beat the national qualifying standards for both events and in the process qualified for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. She ran an impressive time of 5:10.31 in the 1500 m and 10:58.05 in the 3000 m.
Two of the club’s young athletes, Veronica Naingwendje and Siku Martin, qualified for the Region 5 Youth Games taking place in Maseru, Lesotho in December this year. The 17-year-old Naingwendje will compete in the 100 and 200 m while Martin, who is the same age, will compete in 1500 m and 5000 m.
Nambara said he was confident that these two athletes could also qualify for the Commonwealth Games with proper preparations.
“We came up with the idea to start an athletics club after the first National Youth Games held in 2018 in Windhoek. During that time, I was the head of delegation for Team Kavango West, while Sintjapa was the convener and team manager. The Kavango West Region did not perform well overall in all sport codes, however the region’s athletes demonstrated that they have talent and potential and it was only in athletics where the region managed to win a gold medal (Daniel Ntjamba in 1500 m).
“The other thing was that the region did not have an existing club where potential athletes could join after they are no longer eligible to take part in the Youth Games. On top of that, we were also advised by the Namibia Sports Commission and AN to consider establishing athletics clubs in regions in order to identify talent for the national teams.
“We would like to help athletes in the region realise their dreams and we are excited that things are starting to fall into place and the qualification of some of our athletes for the national teams is a sign that the region is blessed with many uncovered talents.”
In terms of financing for the club, the founders and members are currently funding the club’s activities from their own pockets, and that is how the club was able to take part at the AN Grand Prix Leg 4. The club now plans to also take part in the upcoming Pupkewitz Foundation Athletics Championships that will be held from 22 to 23 December in Swakopmund.
“We are therefore appealing to the corporate world and sports lovers out there to come on board and assist the club with any kind of sponsorships in order for us to be able to include more athletes in the club,” said Nambara.
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