Namibia – a Small Nation With Giant Ambitions

Date: 18 March 2015 - 20:14

News ID: ۱۲۲۰۵

WINDHOEK (FIH) - With a population of just 2.1 million people, Namibia is one of the least densely-populated countries in the world, and has an economy based around mining, agriculture and herding. But this small country, which was governed by South Africa until 1990, has aspirations to join the top tiers of international hockey.
Hockey in Namibia is a sport growing in popularity, it is ranked as one of the top five sports for participants in the country, along with cricket, rugby, football and cycling.
While the outdoor game is played by more than 4,000 people, with temperatures in the country sometimes in the mid 40s, the indoor version of hockey is also growing at speed, with several clubs playing league hockey and the women’s national team representing Africa at the 2011 Indoor World Cup in Poland. In 2014, the African Indoor Championships were held in the capital city Windhoek, where both the men’s and women’s teams came second behind South Africa. This was the qualifying event for the FIH Indoor World Cup.
Marc Nel was a former head coach of one of the Namibian hockey teams and he has just been elected as President of the Namibian Hockey Union, with an executive board of nine people. This is the body that will be driving hockey in the south-west African country forward, by championing schemes to increase participation as well as working to secure funding for new facilities. There has already been a significant step forward in this quest with a new hockey turf expected to be completed at the end of the year.
A national programme of excellence is only possible with a wide grass-roots pool to draw talent from, so Nel was pleased to announce during a recent visit by FIH representatives to Namibia that the youth programme is paying off with a lot of inter school competitions and many young players already feeding into the major league sides.
While a lack of water in the country – less than 350mm average rainfall – and a semi-arid climate, which includes the Namib Desert, the proposed hockey turf will not be water-based, but the NHU is working with the pitch provider, to work on a viable alternative, using little water but still providing a high standard surface.
As part of the development programme, European national teams will be invited to use the new pitch and facilities for warm weather training and with Namibia’s long association with Germany, the NHU are hoping that the European giants might be the first visitors to the new pitch and facilities.