Best of 2025 sports year to be celebrated

The country’s top achievers at all fronts over the past months will be celebrated at the Namibia Annual Sport Awards 2025 ceremony, to be held on 22 November in Ongwediva.A record of 180 total entries across all categories were entered by national federations and sports professionals this year, as it was announced at the unveiling of the nominees on Tuesday night in Windhoek.The most lucrative individual prize category – the Sport Star of the Year – will have a new winner with neither of the last two years’ recipients, Lahja Ishitile (2024) or Vera Looser (2023) nominated this time.For the biggest single prize worth N$200 000, the achievements of two boxers will be weighed up against those of a triathlete representing the Namibia Paralympic Committee:&bull; Super bantamweight boxer Jonathan Kasheeta is likely the least known of the three nominees. In July, he was crowned the new WBO Youth International champion after a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over Tanzania’s Kalolo Amiri in Dar es Salaam. Kasheeta’s three wins in the last 12 months have advanced his record in the paid ranks to eight wins (two by knockout) and one loss on points.&bull; The 29-year-old Fillipus “Energy” Nghitumbwa has won three professional fights since 13 October last year. As a previous WBO Africa title holder, “Energy” became the reigning WBO Global Super Bantamweight title holder when he stopped the unbeaten South African Mxolisi Zuma in the sixth round in Windhoek on 9 August. Nghitumbwa is now the WBO’s eighth-ranked contender for the weight division’s undisputed champion, Naoya Inoue’s title.&bull; The amputee Jeromius Rooi (21) won a gold medal in his PTS2 class at the African triathlon championship at Port Elizabeth in April and is also nominated for Sport Star of the Year.On 24 May, Rooi’s first-place finish at the World Triathlon Para Championship in Uzbekistan crowned a new highest achievement of his career so far.World games medal shunnedArguably the highest achievement shunned for this year’s sports awards was the stunning bronze medal won by the Namibian men’s inline hockey team at The World Games in Chengdu, China.Coach Nadia Schmidt’s side qualified for the Games with a seventh-place finish at the sport’s world championship the previous year. Against the odds, the men captained by Christiaan Coetzee stormed to a 3-2 win over France in the bronze final, for the country’s first-ever medal at The World Games.Instead, the three announced finalists for Team of the Year will be:&bull; Netball’s Debmarine Desert Jewels, who won the inaugural UAE Netball Cup in Dubai, with a 62-53 win over Singapore in the final. Singapore, Kenya, Ireland, the UAE and the USA were the other nations.&bull; At the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup held in Croatia last February, the national women’s team under captain Gillian Hermanus and coach Shayne Cormack reached a sixth-place finish, achieving wins over Thailand, New Zealand and Australia.&bull; Namibia’s open water swimming team retained the Zone Six championship for the second and third times in a row during last December in Windhoek and in September 2025 in Eswatini.The 2025 nomineesSport Journalist of the Year (print)Mariud Ngula (NMH / Sport Wrap)Limba Mupetami (New Era)Michael Uugwanga (Confidente)Sport Journalist of the Year (digital)Brian Munango (NMH / Sport Wrap)Silas Timotheus (Footy Namibia)Terence Mukasa (Future Media / OneAfrica TV)Sport Journalist of the Year (broadcast)Terence Mukasa (Future Media / OneAfrica TV)Development Programme of the YearCricket Namibia (Ashburton Kwata cricket) / Namibia Hockey Union (PSI indoor hockey junior nationals) / Disability Sport Namibia (Special Olympics Namibia).Community Inspiration AwardAroab Football Academy (Namibia Football Association)Special Olympics Namibia (Disability Sport Namibia)V-Power Angels (Namibia Football Association)Umpire / Referee of the YearEmily Durand (swimming) / Antsino Twanyanyukwa (football) / Zaid Isaacs (rugby)&gt; Theonistha Kohlman-Bailey:Coach of the yearHans du Toit (Namibia Cycling Federation) / Naomi Schmidt (Namibia Paralympic Committee) / Janis Stergiadis (Namibia Aquatic Sports Federation)Sport Federation of the YearNamibia Aquatic Sports Federation / Cricket Namibia / Namibia Hockey Union.Team of the YearDebmarine Desert Jewels (Netball Namibia)Open water swimming (Namibia Aquatic Sports Federation)Senior women’s team to the FIH Indoor World Cup (Namibia Hockey Union)Sportwoman of the Year with a DisabilityJohanna Benson (Namibia Paralympic Committee) / Selma Usiku (Disability Sport Namibia) / Vitjituaje Master (Disability Sport Namibia)Sportman of the Year with a DisabilityAnanias Shikongo (Namibia Paralympic Committee) / Elifas Nghikevali (Disability Sport Namibia)Junior Sportwoman of the Year with a DisabilityNdapewa Ipinge (Namibia Paralympic Committee) / Keila de Oliveira (Disability Sport Namibia)Junior Sportman of the Year with a DisabilityJob Haindongo (Namibia Paralympic Committee) / Quinton Gaeb (Disability Sport Namibia)Junior Sportwoman of the YearAshley Martins (athletics) / Kayla Duchaine (artistic gymnastics) / Jessica Humphrey (swimming)Junior Sportman of the YearBurton Weakley (archery) / Nathan Chase (triathlon) / Roger Surén (mountain biking)Sportman of the YearDelano Müller (kickboxing) / Jura Krafft (beach volleyball) / Fillipus Nghitumbwa (boxing)Sportwoman of the YearEmilia Ekandjo (rhythmic gymnastics) / Monica Gomases (netball) / Vera Looser (cycling)Professional Athlete of the Year in the DiasporaDeon Hotto (football), Vera Looser (cycling), Peter Shalulile (football).Sport Star of the YearJonathan Kasheeta (boxing) / Fillipus Nghitumbwa (boxing) / Jeromius Rooi (Namibia Paralympic Committee)

Best of 2025 sports year to be celebrated

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