Born on 18 November 1950 on small commercial farm Gaob in the northern part of Namibia, and raised and schooled in Windhoek, Mbako-Pescha was destined for greatness at an early age. 

She started rattling the baskets at the fairly young age of 13 whilst a pupil at the Rhenish Herero School, alongside some of her celebrated teammates.  

Those who spring to mind are recently-departed Tabitha ‘Tape’ Tjikotoke-Katjimune, Kaingene ‘Skorsie’ Tjihonge, Vezera ‘Duikie’ Tjitjo, Kanjana Karita and Inge Tjiramba-Murangi.   

“We used to compete fiercely against St. Barnabas, and the Damara/Nama schools were our biggest rivals and toughest opponents on the netball courts,” recalled the now-retired lethal goal-shooter. 

It is widely argued and rightly so that Mbako-Pescha was the unofficial face of native netball in Apartheid South West Africa (now Namibia) back in the day as the ladies’ game chiefly revolved around her towering presence on the netball courts. 

She reigned supreme without having to shed an ounce of sweat. 

An all-rounder par excellence, her natural beauty often defied her competitive edge on the courts, but she was a mean athlete, who never settled for second-best. 

An exemplary leader in the true sense of the word, she obligated many to fall in love with the ladies’ game with her imposing presence, confidence – and above all, command of proceedings on and off the playing field. 

Her next stop was the revered Augustineum High School in the sacred Garden Town, Okahandja, where she continued playing the game at the highest level alongside Ipula Shipanga-Damaseb and Suzie Gideon. 

After laying her golden hands on almost all available silverware there was to be won in the business, it was time for her to take her game to the next level. 

She joined forces with Dolam outfit Pirates as a free-scoring goal-shooter, rattling the baskets as if the art of goal-scoring was going out of fashion. 

However, it was not long before her football-playing brothers called her to order, reminding their only female sibling in no uncertain terms where her loyalty was entrenched. 

Mbako-Pescha was politely summoned to come back home and start featuring for the newly-formed Tigers netball team. 

“When I joined Pirates, at the time Tigers did not have a netball team – but when they formed one, I was ordered to heed the call and be part of the new kid on the block. During those days, there were no league structures – let alone modern coaching techniques, but we were somehow very lucky to have somebody like the late Buti Tommy Akwenye. He trained us, showing the girls some of the finer points of the game”.   

Even though at times she would apply systematic bullying tactics on the court to instil fear in her opponents, the highly-competitive lass was the epitome of hard work, discipline, commitment, focus, high level of concentration and respect for her teammates and opponents. 

Back in the day, the game of netball was very popular amongst the marginalised communities, to the extent that knockout cup competitions were organised, and ran in tandem with football tourneys in host towns. 

Occasionally, the enthusiastic crowd would willingly vacate the comfort of the makeshift grandstand at the old Katutura stadium, hastily rushing and stumbling across the field to go watch netball action staged behind the southern side goalposts of the gravel B-field, especially when the likeable Tigers net-buster was firing on all cylinders with the precision of a seasoned butcher.  

Mbako-Pescha was such an accurate goal-shooter that whenever she was in possession of the spherical object aiming at the round basket, her overall well-executed hand deliveries always resulted in an astonishing ratio of 98% out of 100 shooting successes, certainly no mean feat.

With the Times Mwetuyela-inspired Tigers men’s outfit riding the crest of the waves in the football discipline, Mbako-Pescha’s well-marshalled netball side handsomely returned the compliment to their fired-up male counterparts, dominating the courts in the popular knockout cup tourneys.

During school holidays, she turned out for Otjiwarongo-based outfit Life Fighters and Nomtsoub outfit Red Bees (Tsumeb) as a much sought-after invited guest player. 

Unlike many local athletes who have developed an uncool habit of disappearing from the scene upon expiry of their playing days, Mbako-Pescha was never lost to the game. 

Respectfully and true to her passion for the overall development of her community, the sport-crazy Mbako-Pescha turned her hand to mentoring upcoming youngsters by juggling her daily duties between her beloved Tigers and the newly-formed Prison netball team. 

“What actually transpired is that I was employed as a nurse at the Katutura State Hospital. I initiated the formation of the nurses’ home netball team, comprising medical staff, but later moved to Namibia Correctional Services, and was instrumental in putting the Prison netball club together in 1992,” she shared.