De Duine at #Hashtag Festival

Mariselle Stofberg
Júandro van Rooi

On 6th June 2019, more than 30 learners from De Duine accompanied by Mr. Gamiseb travelled to Windhoek for the Hashtag Festival. This festival was held at The Show Grounds in Windhoek. This was the second annual Hashtag festival hosted by Namibia Media Holdings. The festival consists of many sport codes like rugby, netball, hockey, soccer, chess, 50m dash, a quiz and even cheerleading. The festival is not just about sports. There were also other events like a career expo, Standard Bank Miss High School and Chamber Choirs Competition. De Duine focused more on the sport but had one learner, Sofia Noble,that took part in the Miss High School beauty pageant. Although she did not make it into the top 3 she said that she had an amazing time and she has learned so much and she enjoyed every moment of the pageant. The learners that took part in the different sport codes took part in a coaching clinic for all sport codes. Sport lovers had the opportunity to gain some insight, tips and expertise in the various sport codes. On the 7th of June was the official opening ceremony of the Hashtag Festival Community Games. The moment they have all been waiting have finally arrived. The games began at 8h00 sharp. The rules were a little bit different but nonetheless they enjoyed the games. After the games ended at 13h00 the cheerleaders were supposed to perform but due to unfortunate circumstances they did not perform. According to Simone !Ganes who played netball, said “ We won the netball games and got first place. That was a huge honor. We played our best but we can improve and only get better from now on”. The hockey also did very well. The rugby and soccer both won their plate finals. Diego Turner said that even though they did not won the cup finals, they did very well and they learned a lot from the coaches at the rugby clinic. During the games sport Minister Erastus Uutoni’s said that sport is important in an educational setting, as it helps with character development and discipline. The whole purpose of The Hashtag Festival and Community Games provided an opportunity for learners to celebrate sport, make new friends and learn while having fun.