Bank Windhoek reaffirms support of athletics

Bank Windhoek on Wednesday renewed its sponsorship of Athletics Namibia (AN) with an amount of N$300 000 for the coming season.

It was the fourth successive year that Bank Windhoek had sponsored AN and at yesterday’s press conference they once again gave the code their stamp of approval.

“With this sponsorship we reaffirm our support to athletics and we have confidence in Athletics Namibia as the official body to develop and promote the sport,” said Marelize Horn of Bank Windhoek.

Horn also congratulated Alna Similo who was elected as president of Athletics Namibia, following its congress in Windhoek over the weekend.

“I’d like to congratulate Alna on being elected as Athletics Namibia’s new president. It’s a big challenge but we will support you and look forward to see what impact you and your executive committee will make,” she said.

“We hope to enable Athletics Namibia to host athletics events to give athletes a platform to compete locally and internationally,” she added.

Horn called on other sponsors to also become involved with athletics.

“We hope Athletics Namibia will also get other sponsors on board, because we believe in our slogan that ‘together we can do better,” she added.

The new president of AN, Alna Similo thanked Bank Windhoek for their support.

“Nowadays sponsors are very scarce but Bank Windhoek has been sponsoring athletics for the past few years – they see something in athletics and have been very loyal,” she said.

Similo said it was a ‘big honour’ to be elected as the first women president of Athletics Namibia, adding that development remained a top priority for Athletics Namibia.

“Athletics is an expensive code and we have been struggling to reach all the regions, but hopefully Bank Windhoek will see our need. Development will definitely have to take place and we will have to reach all the corners of Namibia for athletics to grow,” she said.

Similo, who had been the acting president of Athletics Namibia since the resignation of Frank Fredericks two months ago, was elected as Athletics Namibia’s president at its congress last weekend.

Four other vice presidents were also elected at the congress, namely Modestus Mwiila, Dennis Skrywer, Xenia Pieterse and Martha Emvula.

According to Similo all the positions on the new executive committee had been filled except for that of secretary general, which will be filled by Frank Slabbert on an interim basis. She however added that Slabbert will groom someone to take over his position in the near future.

“Athletics Namibia has already identified a suitable candidate within our ranks to take up the position of secretary general but that person will first be groomed under the guidance of the experienced Frank Slabbert,” she said.

In terms of Bank Windhoek’s sponsorship, Bank Windhoek will sponsor a Grand Prix series consisting of three events as well as the National Championships which is scheduled to take place in Windhoek in April next year.

The first Bank Windhoek Grand Prix event will take place in Swakopmund on 7 December, while the final two will take place in Oshakati and Windhoek on dates that still need to be confirmed.

Similo said they would finalise the dates at a late stage since they wanted to make sure that the Grand Prix events would not clash with other athletics events.

“Last season one of the Grand Prix events clashed with the Khomas Championships, while we also had a problem when the Dr Sam Nujoma Marathon and the Windhoek City Marathon clashed. We don’t want that to happen again, so we have to accommodate each other,” she said.