Training camp was for all athletes
By John Tuerijama
THE Namibia Sports Commission (NSC)’s chief administrator Freddy Mwiya has shrugged off allegations that only karate benefitted from the intensive high performance training held at The Dome in Swakopmund prior to the ongoing Africa Games (AG) in Rabat, Morocco.
Responding to questions from Confidente, Mwiya (whose daughter Lilly is part of Team Namibia) said the training camp was for all sport codes going to the African Games, as per the Local Organising Committee (LOC), adding that the initiative was never an NSC mandate at all as they were not responsible for Team Namibia.
“This is a new way on how to prepare Team Namibia. It was The Dome’s agents who planned the training camp, as the programme was done by them with their agents, Connect People to People, and Namscore, as they are partners.
“We had Egyptian delegations and a Saudi Arabia business sports personality who helped us with this. It is not only for the African Games.
People should learn that old ways will be an issue of the past.
We do things now in new ways to transform sports.
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Confidente was informed that over the weekend of 15 and 16 August, six athletes from the Namibian national karate team took part in the high performance training at the Swakopmund indoor sport complex and that the training camp was the first of its kind to be offered to Namibian karate athletes.
It was hosted by Namscore Consultancy in conjunction with Connect People to People and was fully sponsored for the athletes by the NSC. The aim of the intensive four-day training camp was to prepare the athletes for participation at the AG.
The main focus was not only on a combination of fitness and karate training, but also on sports psychology, nutrition and team effectiveness, to ensure the athletes are prepared to the utmost extent, both physically and mentally as they set out to compete against the best in Africa.
The karate team consists of Suzelle Pronk (captain), Stefan van der Merwe (vice-captain), Bryan Nakambonde, Lilly Mwiya, Michael Nakapunda and Mechelle Tjimuku, with national head coach Sensei Llewyllyn Manale and team manager Marchelle de Jager.
Asked to comment on the training camp Llewellyn said they had time to focus on the task ahead as the African Games serve as qualifiers for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, adding that the athletes have been presented with the best possible platform to prepare.
The Namibia Karate Union (NAKU) wished the coach and athletes the best of luck and thanked Namscore, Connect People to People and the NSC for helping make the training possible.