THE country’s top juniors will make the Independence Stadium in Windhoek the centre of attraction this weekend when the 2022 Namibia National Schools Sport Union athletics nationals take place.
The eagerly anticipated schools’ showcase will feature the best 16 (sprint) and 12 (field items athletes) from the regions, starting Friday from16h00.
With the emergence of teenagers Christine Mboma and Christine Masilingi, who have taken global athletics by storm, there is added interest on the schools’ circuit to get a sneak peek into which youngsters are likely to follow in their footsteps.
Traditionally, Khomas, Erongo and Hardap have dominated the sprint items, but the likes of Zambezi and Ohangwena have now pulled up their socks.
In an interview with Desert Radio 95,3FM, the Namibia National Schools Sport Union (NSSU) national coordinator, Solly Duiker, said the competition will be fierce following the impressive regionals.
“NSSU is the bedrock of talent identification and that is where the likes of Masilingi and Mboma hailed from. Last year’s national championship saw 21 national records broken, and I am hopeful this year’s edition will be far better,” Duiker said.
“We will select two national teams after the event – a team comprising five males and five females to compete [at the Under-18 World School Sport Games ] in France, while another team will compete in the Cossasa (Confederation of School Sport Associations of Southern Africa) Games also in May, in neighbouring South Africa,” he continued.
“I am thus inviting all parents, especially from the host region, to come in their numbers and support these great young athletes. Entry is free, so come and support the kids.”
With assistance from Athletics Namibia, NSSU recently conducted coaching courses in the Erongo and Ohangwena regions.
The national coordinator attributed the poor performance of other regions to a lack of resources or proper facilities, which hampers the NSSU’s plans to decentralise national competitions.
“Khomas athletes are known to be training from September to June each year because of the facilities at their disposal unlike the other regions, which have next to nothing,” said Duiker.
“We have a total of four artificial turfs in Swakopmund, Oshakati, Rietfontein, Grootfontein but they all have six lanes only and that will be a challenge,” he explained.
“Another problem is accommodation logistics, thus Windhoek is ideal and will have teams from the north accommodated in Okahandja while the teams from Erongo, Kunene, Otjozondjupa, Hardap and //Kharas will be based in the capital city.”