Coach angry about being left out

A VOLUNTEER youth football coach says officials have deprived him of the opportunity to accompany the under-12 Hardap regional team.

The youngsters left for France yesterday to compete in the Danone Nations Cup in Paris from this Sunday until July 5. Junior football coach Lukas Uuwanga expressed bitterness, saying that he was ‘worked out’ of the Hardap team to make way for another coach, Erick Beukes, who left with the team yesterday.Uuwanga claims that that he was at the forefront of the team’s victory in Windhoek in the final against Khomas, which secured the Hardap team the chance to compete in Paris against 40 other nations.According to the Hardap regional sport officer, Isak Witbooi, Uuwanga was only assigned to the Hardap team as an assistant team manager, but never as coach.Witbooi said Uuwanga was also “not a teacher of any sort”, and was just taken on as a volunteer during the team’s trials at Mariental.He said as a volunteer, Uuwanga was to assist the team manager with his duties, but was not involved with the coaching of the team.But Uuwanga argues that he was on the bench as the head coach during the entire tournament, which took place at the Sam Nujoma Stadium late in May.”I was the one who was coaching the team and I made sure that they won that cup,” he told The Namibian Sport this week.Witbooi agreed that Uuwanga was indeed on the bench during the duration of the tournament in Windhoek, but said all the officials on the bench gave instructions to the players.”I was sitting on the stands and I could see all of them giving instructions to the players.In fact, giving instructions does not make Uuwanga the coach of the team,” he said.Uuwanga claimed that he signed all the registration documentation at the tournament as coach.”I was in charge there.I signed everything and I was the one who gave instructions to the players and I also ensured that they won the cup,” he said.He also claimed that he signed Danone Clover documents as the coach to accompany the team to France in the presence of Witbooi.Witbooi denied this, saying that Beukes was the head coach at the finals in Windhoek, after he was promoted to that position in the absence of a certain Mr Jantze, who was the initial coach before the team left for Windhoek.Witbooi said in any event where schoolchildren are involved, they should be accompanied by a teacher, according to the rules of the Namibia Schools’ Sports Union (NSSU).”Uuwanga is not a teacher and Beukes is.That is why we decided to send him with the team.Otherwise all of us could have left with the team, but we cannot as there are rules in place,” he said.The chief sport officer at the Sport Ministry’s head office in Windhoek, Irvin Ndjavera, said the discretion of selecting a coach for a regional side lies with the committee in that specific region.He confirmed that Uuwanga had complained to head office about being omitted from the touring delegation.Ndjavera acknowledged that the coach selection was not handled correctly from the beginning.”I wrote a letter to Witbooi asking for an explanation on how this whole thing was handled and the reply was that Uuwanga was just a volunteer and was never the coach of the team,” he said.In fact, Ndjavera said the Ministry recommended that Uuwanga be made the coach and accompany the team, but the decision was overruled by the regional football bosses, who felt that Beukes was the right man.The Hardap side visited the Ministry’s head office on Tuesday and left for France yesterday.NFA acting secretary general Barry Rukoro is the chef de mission, while Justice Kavari, a sports officer in the Ministry, will serve as an assistant organiser.Junior football coach Lukas Uuwanga expressed bitterness, saying that he was ‘worked out’ of the Hardap team to make way for another coach, Erick Beukes, who left with the team yesterday.Uuwanga claims that that he was at the forefront of the team’s victory in Windhoek in the final against Khomas, which secured the Hardap team the chance to compete in Paris against 40 other nations.According to the Hardap regional sport officer, Isak Witbooi, Uuwanga was only assigned to the Hardap team as an assistant team manager, but never as coach.Witbooi said Uuwanga was also “not a teacher of any sort”, and was just taken on as a volunteer during the team’s trials at Mariental.He said as a volunteer, Uuwanga was to assist the team manager with his duties, but was not involved with the coaching of the team.But Uuwanga argues that he was on the bench as the head coach during the entire tournament, which took place at the Sam Nujoma Stadium late in May.”I was the one who was coaching the team and I made sure that they won that cup,” he told The Namibian Sport this week.Witbooi agreed that Uuwanga was indeed on the bench during the duration of the tournament in Windhoek, but said all the officials on the bench gave instructions to the players.”I was sitting on the stands and I could see all of them giving instructions to the players.In fact, giving instructions does not make Uuwanga the coach of the team,” he said.Uuwanga claimed that he signed all the registration documentation at the tournament as coach.”I was in charge there.I signed everything and I was the one who gave instructions to the players and I also ensured that they won the cup,” he said.He also claimed that he signed Danone Clover documents as the coach to accompany the team to France in the presence of Witbooi.Witbooi denied this, saying that Beukes was the head coach at the finals in Windhoek, after he was promoted to that position in the absence of a certain Mr Jantze, who was the initial coach before the team left for Windhoek.Witbooi said in any event where schoolchildren are involved, they should be accompanied by a teacher, according to the rules of the Namibia Schools’ Sports Union (NSSU).”Uuwanga is not a teacher and Beukes is.That is why we decided to send him with the team.Otherwise all of us could have left with the team, but we cannot as there are rules in place,” he said.The chief sport officer at the Sport Ministry’s head office in Windhoek, Irvin Ndjavera, said the discretion of selecting a coach for a regional side lies with the committee in that specific region.He confirmed that Uuwanga had complained to head office about being omitted from the touring delegation.Ndjavera acknowledged that the coach selection was not handled correctly from the beginning.”I wrote a letter to Witbooi asking for an explanation on how this whole thing was handled and the reply was that Uuwanga was just a volunteer and was never the coach of the team,” he said.In fact, Ndjavera said the Ministry recommended that Uuwanga be made the coach and accompany the team, but the decision was overruled by the regional football bosses, who felt that Beukes was the right man.The Hardap side visited the Ministry’s head office on Tuesday and left for France yesterday.NFA acting secretary general Barry Rukoro is the chef de mission, while Justice Kavari, a sports officer in the Ministry, will serve as an assistant organiser.