Namibia scoops cricket awards

THE Namibia Women’s Cricket Association (NWCA) was recognised as the Best Cricket Initiative in Africa by the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) this week.

The annual awards were organised by the ICC’s Development Programme that covers a 20 cricket playing-nations across the globe. Namibia Cricket Board (NCB) President Laurie Pieters received the Volunteer of the Year award, while the annual Hickory Cricket Festival, which is held annually at the coast, was voted as the continent’s Best Cricket Promotional Programme.Namibia’s three awards were the most received by an individual country.Each winner will receive an ICC plaque, a certificate of recognition and an appreciation letter from the ICC’s Chief Executive Malcolm Speed.The winners were selected by the five regional head offices and have now been forwarded for consideration for the Global Awards, which will be announced on February 2 this year.Namibia’s Nadine Visser, who started introducing the sport to women in August 2002, said she news of the award came out of the blue.”This came as a surprise as I did not even know when the awards event took place.Despite that I am very happy to hear that and I hope that this will now encourage more women to take up the sport which really looks promising,” she said.She, however, expressed some disappointment that her programme had not received funding from companies so far.She said she hoped funding would be forthcoming now that NWCA had been recognised as the best initiative in Africa.Pieters said he felt honoured to be recognised for his work, which includes raising interest in the sport among the previously disadvantaged.He applauded both Visser and cricket coach Gareth Cloete, who are responsible for training women.”We can do more for women’s cricket by also engaging in grassroots development programmes across the country.The sport is well liked and we hope to spread it as much as we can,” he said.The Development Programme Annual Awards promote excellence in cricket and recognise exceptional performance and service to the game in the ICC’s Associate and Affiliate member countries.The other awards for the African region were as follows: Zambia Cricket Union: Best Overall Cricket Development Programme Mozambique: Best Junior Development Initiative Chipata, Zambia: Flicx Community Development Award Uganda Cricket Union: Best Spirit of Cricket Initiatives Jasmer Singh Kenya: Lifetime Service Award.Namibia Cricket Board (NCB) President Laurie Pieters received the Volunteer of the Year award, while the annual Hickory Cricket Festival, which is held annually at the coast, was voted as the continent’s Best Cricket Promotional Programme. Namibia’s three awards were the most received by an individual country. Each winner will receive an ICC plaque, a certificate of recognition and an appreciation letter from the ICC’s Chief Executive Malcolm Speed. The winners were selected by the five regional head offices and have now been forwarded for consideration for the Global Awards, which will be announced on February 2 this year. Namibia’s Nadine Visser, who started introducing the sport to women in August 2002, said she news of the award came out of the blue. “This came as a surprise as I did not even know when the awards event took place. Despite that I am very happy to hear that and I hope that this will now encourage more women to take up the sport which really looks promising,” she said. She, however, expressed some disappointment that her programme had not received funding from companies so far. She said she hoped funding would be forthcoming now that NWCA had been recognised as the best initiative in Africa. Pieters said he felt honoured to be recognised for his work, which includes raising interest in the sport among the previously disadvantaged. He applauded both Visser and cricket coach Gareth Cloete, who are responsible for training women. “We can do more for women’s cricket by also engaging in grassroots development programmes across the country. The sport is well liked and we hope to spread it as much as we can,” he said. The Development Programme Annual Awards promote excellence in cricket and recognise exceptional performance and service to the game in the ICC’s Associate and Affiliate member countries. The other awards for the African region were as follows: Zambia Cricket Union: Best Overall Cricket Development Programme Mozambique: Best Junior Development Initiative Chipata, Zambia: Flicx Community Development Award Uganda Cricket Union: Best Spirit of Cricket Initiatives Jasmer Singh Kenya: Lifetime Service Award.