Rewarding the best

De Duine Secondary School paid tribute to its 2019 sport stars during a glamorous awards ceremony last week.
Ester Kamati
Otis Finck



Courtney Mouton was named senior sportswoman and Timothy Coleman senior sportsman of the year at De Duine Secondary School’s annual sport awards.

At the same event, Mary Samuels was named junior sportswoman and Franco Vries junior sportsman of the year.

Mouton is a judoka with national colours and is both a Namibian champion and gold medallist. She was also named best female judoka in Namibia.

She competed in the Region 5 competition in Botswana, where she achieved fourth place. She also won a gold medal in a competition between Namibia and Angola, as well as a gold medal at the Erongo championships.

Samuels is a formidable darts player who represented the country at under-16 level at the Region 5 dart championships in Walvis Bay.

She won a bronze medal in the team event, a bronze in singles and was nominated as junior sportswoman of the year at the Namibia Sport Awards.

Vries represented the school and the country at u-16 level at the Grant Como rugby week in South Africa.

Coleman was recommended for the award by Namibian karate world champion Shihan Leonard Martin. Coleman received Namibian colours for karate in February and represented the country at the UFAK junior and senior championships in Botswana in June, where he won a bronze medal for kumite. He also won bronze for kumite at the Region 5 and Zone 6 karate championships in Swakopmund in May.

He took gold at the Namibia Karate Union (NAKU) karate championships in Walvis Bay in September and also pocketed gold for kumite and bronze for kata at the Namibia Goju Kai karate championships in Walvis Bay in August. He is currently ranked third in Africa in his category.

Chandler Plato, a Namibian Rugby Union (NRU) representative and former De Duine learners representative council (LRC) member was the keynote speaker at the awards ceremony.

He said that the top achievers had strived to be and give their best to make it to the podium.

“While taking part is a key element in team sport, school events and life in general, winning is what makes us push ourselves to achieve our full potential.

I am impressed with the achievements of everyone here tonight.”

He emphasised there are no shortcuts to success. “It comes with hard work, getting up early in the morning and staying behind late after practise sessions to perfect your skills.

“Success is not a destination, but a journey with important milestones, and tonight the achievers have arrived at such a juncture in their lives.”

Athletics

Two athletes, Diego Turner (100m and 200m) and Timothy Coleman (high jump) received gold medals at the zonal athletics meet.

Darts

Reese Andrews, Courtney Mouton, Meeketa Mwatukane, Raulencia Natakalako and Ngurimuye Tjikkaama represented Namibia at girls’ u-19 level, while Denayson Cloete, Zachary Coleman, Jorell de Vos, Dosantos Murianga and Keanan Cloete represented the country at boys’ u-19 level.

Reese, who won bronze in the doubles competition, was named u-19 female player of the year, while Denayson Cloete is the male player of the year.

Romien Cloete, Jade Strauss and Mary Samuels represented the country at girls’ u-16 level, while Timothy Dick, Fransie Jansen, Giovani Links, John Williams and Sergio Witbooi represented the country at boys’ u-16 level.

Giovanni received an achievement award for winning seven of his 12 games at the Region 5 dart championships.

Netball

De Duine netball teams competed in the u-14, u-15, u-17 and u-19 super leagues and did well, securing a sponsorship of N$10 000 in sporting equipment from Debmarine Namibia.

Simone !Ganes and Shelly Mundjindjire received zonal and regional colours at u-17 level. They were also members of the Debmarine u-17 team that won gold. Victoria Shigweda was named most committed player in the u-17 super league.

Raulencia Ndakalako received national colours, while Secilia Kasera and Shelly Mundjindjire were members of the u-19 Newspaper Cup team that won gold over the Easter weekend. Ndakalako was named best defender of the tournament and was named the De Duine netball player for 2019.

Secilia was also named most committed player, Yvonne Mafita was named most improved and disciplined player, Raulencia best defender, while !Ganes was the top goal-scorer and most versatile player in the u-19 super league.

Soccer

The De Duine u-15 soccer team won the league. They also clinched the plate division at the Cavema Fishing tournament.

Zee-Zane Kisting and Ranchill Dausab shared the award for best defenders. Paulus Hamutenya was the top goal-scorer with 11 goals. Jackano Peerstoff was named most committed player, while Conan Colen was named player of the year. He was also chosen for the Neymar Jr’s Five tournament that took place in Brazil.

Rugby

Various players were selected for the u-16 and u-18 Erongo teams. Franco Vries, Benito Sinden, Angelo Pamplin, Giovanni Links, Elrico Mouton and Zachary Coleman represented the school at u-16 level. Mouton was named best forward and Sinden was named the best backline player.

Algirnon Kolz, Clifford Cowley, Jay Jay Dentlinger and Clayton Pienaar represented the school at u-18 level. Pienaar was named player of the year, Dentlinger was named best forward and Kolz was named best backline player.

The u-19 team competed in the A league for the first time in the history of the school, making it into the semi-final round of the competition. William Cookson was named most committed player, Zadian Campbell was named best upcoming forward, with Daniel September named best upcoming backline player.