Volleyball crowns first national champions

The volleyball community celebrated the completion of the inaugural MTC National Volleyball League which came to a close at Swakopmund on Sunday.

The debut competition saw Revivals claim the women’s title, with the invincible Namibia Correctional Services winning the men’s equivalent.

The NDF Raptors were second and Khomas Nampol came third in the men’s division, while Kudos and Khomas Nampol finished behind Revivals in the women’s section.

Coastal Warriors and Nampol Otjozondjupa were relegated from the men’s league, as Beaufort and the Namibian Navy suffered the same fate on the women’s end.

“The MTC Volleyball National League stands as a pinnacle of excellence in Namibian volleyball, bringing together the finest talents from across the nation to compete in a spirited display of athleticism and sportsmanship,” NVF president Tobias Mwatelo said during the prize giving ceremony inside The MTC Dome which hosted the final battles.

“With eight male and eight female teams representing the various regions, this league showcased the diversity and vibrancy of Namibian volleyball.”

The winning teams received N$40 000 for their efforts plus N$4 500 worth of airtime. For finishing second place, the teams got N$30 000 in prize money and N$3 000 airtime, while third place was worth N$10 000 and N$1 300 airtime.

Speaking at the prize giving ceremony, Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) corporate affairs manager John Ekongo lauded the Namibian Volleyball Federation (NVF) for efficiently making use of resources from the title sponsor, vindicating the mobile telecommunications firm’s decision to invest in volleyball.

He explained that a sport body’s ability to develop the sport code by getting the youth involved en masse is one of the key areas they look at before granting a sponsorship.

“As a federation [seeking support], it doesn’t matter how many times you wrote to us, we will do our due diligence. If you submit a beautiful presentation but if it is not subjective to the conditions of the agreement, we will pull our sponsorship,” Ekongo said.

“Often times, we have federations that come knocking at our door, and they have club players that are 45 [years old] and above. Then they tell us, ‘we are playing for the future of the country’. At 45, you are gone, you are not playing for anybody’s future. You are just being fit for yourself,” Ekongo stressed.

“And in that arena, you are denying a young person who is 18 or 15 the opportunity to grow, the opportunity to create a sports ecosystem.”

The NVF leadership, championed by Hillary Imbuwa and Joel Mathews, understood the assignment and went about ensuring that MTC’s investment was justified.

Mwatelo highlighted the importance of accountability as the cornerstone to attracting and retaining sponsors.

“With the one million that we got, we don’t want speculation to say ‘they took 100 000, or they took 50 000′. So, we definitely make sure that we have a public announcement and engagement on what happened,” Mwatelo said.

“The million that we spent, the overspending that we did, where it went, everything, so that you know the contributions of each and every one.”

He commended fellow executive members for their dedication and contributing their own resources to ensure that league matches are honoured across the country.