From the sideline

The year 2005 on the sporting front has been characterised by many shocking and at the same time exciting developments. There were plenty of great goals in most team sports locally and internationally, while some individual athletes constantly shone as others fell to repeated defeat.

There were great comebacks and forced retirements, not forgetting the emerging talent and the challenging future that lies ahead of them. This is how I assessed the highs and lows of sport this year on home soil and around the globe.Newsmakers for 2005: * Namibia Football Association (NFA) president Petrus Damaseb for pulling off a N$40 million deal with a consortium of three major Namibian companies for the advancement of football in the country.Also for his no-nonsense approach in resisting football critics.* Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) president Dirk Conradie and his executive committee for expelling United Rugby Club from all rugby activities and eventually re-admitting them after legal threats.* Sport Consultant Quinton-Steele Botes and Athletics Namibia President Alpha Kangueehi for their public outbursts on each other on how to run the ailing code.* Agnes Samaria for hosting her second successive training programme for local 800m and 1 500m distance athletes, as well as bringing Olympic double gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes to Namibia.Best Teams: * The national women’s hockey side for bringing bronze home after the African Nations Cup in South Africa, despite being the only country among all the participants without an artificial Astroturf back at home.* The Namibian under-19 cricket team that qualified for the ICC World Cup in Sri Lanka.* The under-19 rugby side which qualified for International Rugby Board (IRB) Under-19 World Cup in Dubai next year.* Civics for winning the league and playing football with a purpose.* Orlando Pirates and Tigers for showing their mettle in the premiership this time around, and African Stars which made it to the final of the FNB Cup for the first time, after failing to make it to a cup final in close to ten years.* Liverpool for winning the Champions League in dramatic fashion and Barcelona for showing the world what the round ball is all about.Worst Teams: * Touch & Go and Cymot SKW for losing with huge margins despite qualifying for the elite league.* The Turkish national team for attacking players from Switzerland in the tunnel after failing to qualify for the World Cup.* The Namibian under-15 cricket side for being knocked out 3-0 by their counterparts from Zimbabwe.Best Players and Achievers: * Namibia’s hockey star, Magreth Mengo, for becoming a professional player in Holland.* Barcelona footballer Ronaldinho who is an absolute revelation and for taking the game to a different level.* Blue Waters forward Meraai Swartbooi, whose tremendous work-rate and skills make Blue Waters one of the better teams in the country.* Roger Thompson for his talent and magnificent kicking boot for the Namibian national rugby side.* Athlete Frank Puriza for his huge talent and his level of discipline and consistency on the track.* Boxer Moses Paulus for his explosive fists that landed him a WBA Pan African welterweight title, as well as Ali Nuumbembe for his professionalism in and out of the ring.Worst Players: * Golfer Joe Nawanga who has not made an impact since becoming a pro, and for snubbing the media.* Players from the Tunisia basketball team attacking Nigerian players in an international match.Biggest mistakes: * Civics firing coach Ali Akan who is now turning the heat on them as coach of Tigers.* Early replacements by the Namibian under-20 coaching staff which led to the 8-0 hammering of the side by Madagascar during the Cosafa Youth Cup in South Africa.Thumbs down: * Infighting and financial mismanagement in sport.* Racist remarks that constantly re-surface between rugby bosses and managers of clubs in the league.* The delayed start of the Namibia Premier League this season.Thumbs Up: * Namibia Sport Commission (NSC) for taking a firm grip on sport in Namibia after the introduction of the new Sports Act.* The commitment and willingness of MTC, FNB and NBL to change the face of Namibian football and showing the way in professionally running the game.* Efforts of hockey president Jesse Schickerling to raise funds in aid of an Astroturf in Namibia someday.Hopes for 2006: * A sense of urgency to be shown by the Namibia Rugby Union, especially the entire executive committee putting the right people in place for the advancement of the game.Backstabbing and racist remarks should be a no-no.* Netball authorities to realise that the game has completely died on national level and that they should wake up.* That Alpha Kangueehi will once and for all sort out his differences with Quinton-Steele Botes and share a cup of tea at least once a week.* That we see more spectacular goals on all sporting fronts.Best quote in 2005: “Blue Waters are ten men down” – A team manager of one of the premiership teams.This is how I assessed the highs and lows of sport this year on home soil and around the globe.Newsmakers for 2005: * Namibia Football Association (NFA) president Petrus Damaseb for pulling off a N$40 million deal with a consortium of three major Namibian companies for the advancement of football in the country.Also for his no-nonsense approach in resisting football critics.* Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) president Dirk Conradie and his executive committee for expelling United Rugby Club from all rugby activities and eventually re-admitting them after legal threats.* Sport Consultant Quinton-Steele Botes and Athletics Namibia President Alpha Kangueehi for their public outbursts on each other on how to run the ailing code.* Agnes Samaria for hosting her second successive training programme for local 800m and 1 500m distance athletes, as well as bringing Olympic double gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes to Namibia.Best Teams: * The national women’s hockey side for bringing bronze home after the African Nations Cup in South Africa, despite being the only country among all the participants without an artificial Astroturf back at home.* The Namibian under-19 cricket team that qualified for the ICC World Cup in Sri Lanka.* The under-19 rugby side which qualified for International Rugby Board (IRB) Under-19 World Cup in Dubai next year.* Civics for winning the league and playing football with a purpose.* Orlando Pirates and Tigers for showing their mettle in the premiership this time around, and African Stars which made it to the final of the FNB Cup for the first time, after failing to make it to a cup final in close to ten years.* Liverpool for winning the Champions League in dramatic fashion and Barcelona for showing the world what the round ball is all about.Worst Teams: * Touch & Go and Cymot SKW for losing with huge margins despite qualifying for the elite league.* The Turkish national team for attacking players from Switzerland in the tunnel after failing to qualify for the World Cup.* The Namibian under-15 cricket side for being knocked out 3-0 by their counterparts from Zimbabwe.Best Players and Achievers: * Namibia’s hockey star, Magreth Mengo, for becoming a professional player in Holland.* Barcelona footballer Ronaldinho who is an absolute revelation and for taking the game to a different level.* Blue Waters forward Meraai Swartbooi, whose tremendous work-rate and skills make Blue Waters one of the better teams in the country.* Roger Thompson for his talent and magnificent kicking boot for the Namibian national rugby side.* Athlete Frank Puriza for his huge talent and his level of discipline and consistency on the track.* Boxer Moses Paulus for his explosive fists that landed him a WBA Pan African welterweight title, as well as Ali Nuumbembe for his professionalism in and out of the ring.Worst Players: * Golfer Joe Nawanga who has not made an impact since becoming a pro, and for snubbing the media.* Players from the Tunisia basketball team attacking Nigerian players in an international match. Biggest mistakes: * Civics firing coach Ali Akan who is now turning the heat on them as coach of Tigers.
* Early replacements by the Namibian under-20 coaching staff which led to the 8-0 hammering of the side by Madagascar during the Cosafa Youth Cup in South Africa.Thumbs down: * Infighting and financial mismanagement in sport. * Racist remarks that constantly re-surface between rugby bosses and managers of clubs in the league.* The delayed start of the Namibia Premier League this season.Thumbs Up: * Namibia Sport Commission (NSC) for taking a firm grip on sport in Namibia after the introduction of the new Sports Act.* The commitment and willingness of MTC, FNB and NBL to change the face of Namibian football and showing the way in professionally running the game.* Efforts of hockey president Jesse Schickerling to raise funds in aid of an Astroturf in Namibia someday.Hopes for 2006: * A sense of urgency to be shown by the Namibia Rugby Union, especially the entire executive committee putting the right people in place for the advancement of the game.Backstabbing and racist remarks should be a no-no.* Netball authorities to realise that the game has completely died on national level and that they should wake up.* That Alpha Kangueehi will once and for all sort out his differences with Quinton-Steele Botes and share a cup of tea at least once a week.* That we see more spectacular goals on all sporting fronts.Best quote in 2005: “Blue Waters are ten men down” – A team manager of one of the premiership teams.