By Kuvee Kangueehi GROOTFONTEIN The towns of Otjiwarongo and Ongwediva are proving to be the homes of future Namibian football stars after the two reached the final of the National Under-15 tournament. Although Otjiwarongo emerged as the champions of the tournament after beating Ongwediva 3-1 in extra time, both sides proved that there is vast raw talent in the country. In the much-anticipated final, Otjiwarongo took the lead early in the first half and dominated the opening minutes of play until Ongwediva equalized. None of the two teams could find the winning goal in the 90 minutes of the game and the match had to go into extra time. In extra time Otjiwarongo, which defended most of the time, took the lead against the run of play to see the scoreline 2-1. The goal forced Ongwediva to come out more and pushed more players forward in the hope of finding an equalizer. However, the well-organized defence of Otjiwarongo held despite the array of attacks from Ongwediva. With the seconds ticking by, Ongwediva committed themselves too much and Otjiwarongo killed off the match when they hit them on the break to make the match safe. Despite going down 3-1 in the final, Ongwediva had an outstanding tournament and played some good attacking football. On its way to the final, Ongwediva humiliated many sides including Gobabis and Keetmanshoop. The northern side beat pre-tournament favourites Gobabis 5-0 before demolishing Keetmanshoop 4-0 in the semifinals. In the other semi-final Windhoek, which also played some exciting football, lost 5-4 on penalties to Otjiwarongo after a goalless draw. The towns of Otavi and Rundu failed to bring teams to the tournament, which selected 62 players who will form the core of the national Under-15 side. Tikulu Ueitele from Gobabis said his team performed poorly because some of the players before the games had still been on holiday with their parents. He noted that he will not blame the Namibia Football Association for hosting the tournament so early in the year and said it was time that parents started doing something to ensure that their children participated in sport. He added that his team despite performing poorly will not stop training and playing to improve in the future. He further noted that his team is also very young and can learn from the experience. The tournament was officially opened by the Deputy Mayor of Grootfontein, Paulus Hangula. In his opening remarks Hangula said since the purpose of the tournament was to select a national Under 15 team in order to prepare for the Olympics 2012, his council fully supports the idea. Hangula expressed thanks and appreciation to the NFA for initiating the event of producing future legends for the 2012 Olympic Games. “Let it be an ongoing process for many years to come and I therefore urge and encourage more youth to engage in health-promoting activities such as this one.” The deputy mayor urged the young footballers to refrain from alcohol and drug abuse and unprotected sex. The tournament was also attended by the acting NFA Secretary General Barry Rukuro, NFA Technical Director Seth Boois and former Brave Warriors caretaker coach Max Johnson.