Hockey men stepping up for World Cup debut

Namibia’s young men’s field hockey team is working hard in their preparation for the FIH Under-21 World Cup to be held in India next month.The coaching team of Johann Weyhe, Randy Slabbert and Brynn Cleak (technical analyst) are fully aware of the task ahead of them, as Namibia looks to make a good debut in its first-ever appearance in a field hockey World Cup tournament.Herman Steytler is the team’s fitness and conditioning coach, as they follow a busy weekly programme in the gymnasium as well as on the training field.A bit of history will be made this year, as the Namibia Hockey Union is represented at four World Cups in one calendar year. At the FIH Indoor World Cup earlier this year, Namibia’s women’s team (sixth) and men (eighth) both made the quarter-finals.Under the experienced head coach Weyhe, the U21 men’s team looks ahead to their World Cup pool matches against two powerful European opponents as well as fellow Africans Egypt.World number seven Belgium awaits in their opening match, while Spain is the current European title holder and ranked fourth in the world. Although Egypt (15th) is still ranked significantly higher than Namibia (34th), the Namibians under the captaincy of Jean-Paul Britz managed to beat them for the first time at the continental U21 qualifier held in Windhoek earlier this year.Following the pool matches, each team at the World Cup will face more play-offs to determine its final placing.“We see the adaptation to the intensity of the international level as our biggest task,” says coach Randy Slabbert.“In this regard, our two pre-tournament warm-up matches againstMalaysia and Canada will be quite important. Malaysia just completed hosting a six-nations tournament and therefore will be very well prepared.”One late change has been made since the earlier announcement of Namibia’s team to the Under-21 World Cup. Derick Nell of Saints has been promoted from the shortlist and will replace Johan Swanepoel.&bull; In support of the men’s team financial situation heading into the World Cup, they are hosting a Padel tournament from 14:00 until late on Friday at NamPadel. Teams can be entered at N$2500. For more information, contact the team manager Janine van der Merwe at 081 122 4833.

Hockey men stepping up for World Cup debut

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Republikein 2026-03-19

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Hockey men stepping up for World Cup debut

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