Namibia has officially earned a spot in beach volleyball at the 2026 U/17 Youth Olympic Games.
According to Conrad Johannes, the NVF beach volleyball director, the long-term development goal of the Namibia Volleyball Federation (NVF) is to increase participation at a high-performance level and establish Namibia as a powerhouse in African beach volleyball.
The country already boasts gold and bronze medals at the U/21 African Beach Volleyball Championships for boys, and the federation hopes to add more success at the senior level in the future. Conrad described the qualification as a huge honour for a small country like Namibia to be represented at the Youth Olympic Games.
“This platform offers our players experience at the highest level, something we cannot necessarily provide on a day-to-day basis. It will be a great experience for everyone involved. It has been a process of two to three years for us to secure this spot, and the strong performances at all levels of beach volleyball helped us achieve it,” said Johannes.
He further stated that the final team for the Olympics has not yet been selected, but all U/17 players currently in the system have been informed.
“There will also be open training sessions and two international events where more players who have not yet been identified can showcase their talents. I therefore invite all U/17 boys to participate in these events,” he said.
Johannes added that it is difficult to set goals for an event of this nature because the level of competition is still unknown.
“We must prepare our side, give the athletes the best preparation possible, and hope for the best,” he said.
Whichever players are eventually selected for the final squad will, for the most part, have little to no international competition experience, making the tournament an important learning curve for them. Johannes also expressed hope that the qualification will inspire more young people to take up beach volleyball.
“Hopefully, this can ignite passion and motivate other youngsters to participate in beach volleyball. If we have a bigger player base to choose from, we can become a more competitive nation,” he said.
The federation hosted a national training camp at the beginning of May, which was one of several ongoing development camps. More camps and national tour events will be held to help determine the final team for the Games.