Young hockey players rewarded

Tunohole Mungoba
The Namibian Hockey Union (NHU) recently hosted the 2018 Bank Windhoek Junior Hockey Development League awards ceremony at the Windhoek Gymnasium Private School.

Medals were awarded to the under-10, 12 and 14 age groups in both the boys and girls A and B divisions.

Saint Paul’s College won the girls’ u-10 A section competition, followed by Pioneers Park Primary School.

The boys’ under-10 A section was also scooped by Saint Paul’s College, with Windhoek Gymnasium walking away with the second spot.

The girls’ u-12 A section belonged to Windhoek Gymnasium, who were followed home by St George's Diocesan School.

Windhoek Gymnasium and Windhoek Afrikaans Private School took the first and second prizes in the boys’ u-12 A section, respectively.

The girls’ u-14 A section was won by Saint Paul’s College and Windhoek Afrikaans Private School were the runners-up.

The boys’ u-14 A section was won by Windhoek Afrikaans Private School, followed by Windhoek Gymnasium.

The development league kicked off in June and concluded in mid-August.

It had a record entry of 95 teams from 10 different schools. The matches took place at the Windhoek Gymnasium and Wanderers hockey fields in Windhoek.

“The league is an NHU hockey development programme initiative. It aims to develop the sport of hockey in Namibia by educating and grooming talented young hockey players. Despite challenges such as lack of resources for some schools, the junior hockey league continues to grow,” said Bank Windhoek’s head of corporate affairs, Hayley Allen.

“Through the partnership with Bank Windhoek, the NHU is in the process of re-introducing hockey into schools and in the regions that have stopped playing the sport due to a lack of equipment and coaches.

“This partnership started in 2015 and so far nine coaching clinics for coaches and children took place in seven regions in Namibia,” said NHU vice-president, Conrad Wessels.

“We would like to congratulate the winning and participants teams for putting up incredible performances during the leagues fixtures. Thank you to Bank Windhoek for making this possible,” said Wessels.

The B section winners were as follows:

Girls’ u-10 -

Winners: Saint Paul’s College B

Runners-up: Saint Paul’s College C

Boys’ u-10 -

Winners: Windhoek Gymnasium

Runners-up: Saint Paul’s College B

Girls’ u-12 -

Winners: Saint Paul’s College B

Runners-up: Windhoek Afrikaans Private School

Boys’ under-12 -

Winners: Saint Paul’s College

Runners-up: Windhoek Afrikaans Private School

Girls’ u-14 -

Winners: Namutoni Primary School

Runners-up: Eros Primary School

Boys’ u-14 -

Winners: Namutoni Primary School

Runners-up: Eros Primary School