Sparks to fly between friendly rivals WBPS and Pro-Ed

School sports
Otis Daniels
  • 3 Months Ago
The stage is set for a highly entertaining school sports interhigh between hosts Walvis Bay Private School (WBPS) and their coastal neighbours Pro-Ed Academy from Swakopmund.

Athletes from the two schools will tackle each other in five different sports codes on Saturday.

Naartjie Park will be the venue for archery, chess, hockey, netball and rugby matches, with athletes from the ages of under-7 to U19 in action.

The action will commence on Friday at 15:00 and conclude on Saturday when the two under-19 rugby first teams take to the pitch at 13:40.

Proceedings on Saturday will officially commence with the big brag with the two schools’ first rugby, netball and hockey teams to be introduced thereafter.

This will be the third year that the two school coastal schools have the competition. WBPS previously competed against Windhoek Afrikaanse Privaatskool (WAP) and approached Pro-Ed in 2022 to establish the competition with the aim of building team spirit and developing the characters of athletes.

Henry Kemp, head of the sports department at WBPS, said the teams were looking forward to the competition which is growing in stature.

“It remains a friendly competition, because there is more to it than winning. We use the event to build friendships and to identify talent at the coast.

“The Pro-Ed teams are in a league of their own and we will have to be on top of our game. It is good to have a school of such calibre in Swakopmund for us to compete against.”

Kemp pointed out that the regional schools’ rugby structure held trials recently. “Some of the players have now become teammates in the Erongo squad. It will be interesting to see how these friends deal with each other in a do-or-die clash for their schools on Saturday.”

According to Manja Robberts, team manager for Pro-Ed first team, it will be a big day for six of the players in the team.

“Our captain since last year, Tayton Saunders, vice-captain Devon Burger, Jandre Robberts, Jivaldo Pienaar, Marc Holloway and Maughan Jarman will be playing their 50th game and we are expecting fireworks.

“We are all very excited about seeing them play and also hope that the weather plays along.”

Herman Lombard, captain of the WBHS U19 first team, said his team is looking forward to welcoming their counterparts from Pro-Ed. "They compete very hard and always go the extra mile for their school. I know both teams will be out to prove a point.”



BROADCAST

Taking the interhigh between hosts Windhoek Gymnasium and Windhoek High School into account, the NTV production teams will deliver live broadcasts on https://oneuptwo.com (also on NTV if indicated) as follows this weekend.

Friday 19 April

BIG BRAG, Whk Gym v WHS (live from 07:55).

SOCCER U19 Whk Gym v WHS (live from 16:45).

GIRLS 1ST HOCKEY Whk Gym v WHS (live from 18:15), followed by BOYS 1ST HOCKEY Whk Gym v WHS.

Saturday 20 April

NETBALL U14A, Whk Gym v WHS (live from 07:45).

NETBALL U15A, Whk Gym v WHS (live from 09:25 / on NTV from 10:00), followed by NETBALL U17A Whk Gym v WHS, followed by NETBALL U19A Whk Gym v WHS.

BASKETBALL boys U19, Whk Gym v WHS (live from 11:20 on the YouTube channel Networkmediahub).

RUGBY U14A, Whk Gym v WHS (live from 11:15), followed by RUGBY U15A, Whk Gym v WHS.

RUGBY U19 1st teams, Walvis Bay PS v Pro-Ed Academy (live from 13:00, also on NTV).

RUGBY U19 1st teams: Whk Gym v WHS (live from 16:30, also on NTV).