Youngsters set for USA tour

Thirty-two players from the Namibian Ice and Inline Hockey Association’s (NIIHA) development program will be travelling to the USA, specifically Taylor, Michigan (minutes away from Detroit) to compete at the World’s largest youth inline hockey tournament called State Wars.

The players age range is 7 to 14 years old. The players have been working for two years in preparation for this event.

“We were supposed to attend State Wars last year, but Covid restrictions and protocols forced us to cancel the trip, so this year the excitement level of the team is through the roof!” said Bernd Bajorat, the NIIHA president.

State Wars is a yearly inline hockey tournament held in America, offering divisions from 6-and-under through 45-and-over and including a Pro Division and everything in-between.

This year the event will play host to almost 300 teams from the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Australia, Sweden and Namibia.

NIIHA will be entering seven teams in the tournament in the following age divisions (by birth year): 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and Girls Minor (2007 and under). The age divisions are further broken down by skill level: A, AA and AAA.

Namibia will enter two teams in the AA/AAA Divisions.

Bajorat explains: “Our goal is to challenge our players and introduce them to some of the best hockey in the world. The last time we attended State Wars we only entered ons team in the AA/AAA Divisions and this time we wanted to expose the players to more high-level hockey.

“Our aim is not winning, though we definitely want that, but our broader goal is development and opportunity and working to strengthen our programs here in Namibia.

“Every time our kids travel out of country to compete, they come back with so much knowledge and understanding of what the rest of the world is doing in our sport and that knowledge is shared with the rest the community here and we continue to see the level of our hockey grow each time we take trips like this.”

This year’s team selection will also see the return of George Tjhaapi, who in 2019 attended State Wars and captured the hearts of the players and coaches in America. George was singled out by three-time Stanley Cup winner and NHL player Pat Maroon, who sponsored George a full set of equipment and watched many of George’s games.

George helped his team win a gold medal when he scored on a penalty shot with 4 minutes left in the final game. The goal gave his team a 3-2 lead and would eventually be the match-winning goal. It was a big moment for the youngster and he is super excited to get back to America and show everyone what he has been up to the past couple years.

Additionally, this year’s teams will also feature three of Namibia’s national junior women’s players: Suzie Coetzee, Ania Bortslap and Lana Bajorat. The three are all first-year players for the national team, which will go to the world championship in Argentina in late October/early November of this year.

State Wars – which will start on 19 August and continue for two weeks – will give them a great opportunity to get some game action and experience before the world championship.