Shooting from the hip Carlos Kambaekwa Hardly a day passes by without some self-styled sport administrators being caught with their fingers stuck in the cookie jar. For starters, hats off to the National Sports Commission for their prompt intervention in the ongoing saga between a promising 16-year-old speedster going by the name of Bazill van Ryhn and the seemingly untouchable Namibia Motor Sport Federation, who seemed to have become a law unto themselves. The Federation is run by boerewors-bellied men who have been in the game for donkey years, and whose understanding of rules governing this particular discipline cannot even be doubted by the clevers and moegoes. All this seemed fine, except that these characters are at many a time, as in the case of young Van Ryhn, driven by authority with very little emphasis on what logic might suggest. I’ve been following with an eagle eye the progress of this boy over the last couple of years and I can shamelessly stick my neck out and proudly pronounce the youngster has what it takes to become a World champion in the not-too-distant future if given the necessary support he so dearly deserves. What makes supposedly mature people want to deprive an innocent and ambitious laaitie the chance to fulfill his God-given talent, just because his father happened to be nobody’s “Yes Man” is beyond my imagination, ag sies tog. The fact that the Namibian Motor Sport Federation refused point-blank to heed an earlier call from the National Sport Commission to issue Van Ryhn with a licence allowing him to compete in South Africa is an indication that there is more than meets the eye within the corridors of the Federation and this matter needs to be treated with the contempt it deserves. Whether or not the Sport Commission has the pluck to investigate the modus operandi behind the whole fiasco remains to be seen, but I trust all avenues will be exhausted to get to the root of this ugly exercise for appropriate action to be taken against the culprits if we are to prevent this type of shenanigans in our sport setup. *Young Footballers to Rub Shoulders With the Best in the World My broer, old habits just refuse to bite the dust – irrespective of how some people go an extra mile in trying to impress others with little costly tokens here and there. When the motor mouth Tobie Cronje took over the reins of the country’s hottest sporting seat, the brother promised all and sundry heaven and earth for Namibian football with all sorts of adjustments, some of them obviously kind of a publicity stunt – remember the much hyped but currently ineffective Veterans’ Council? For those in the dark, Namibia is silently making inroads into World football after the Association has entered a team to represent the African continent alongside South Africa and Cameroon at the annual Danone Under-12 Nations Cup in Lyon, France in July, following the event organisers’ decision to jack up the number of participants from 32 to 40 this year. Unlike in South Africa where the country is represented by individual teams, Namibia have opted for a more flexible qualifying system and would rather dispatch a regional representative instead of the controversial system applied by South Africa, which saw Orlando Pirates masquerading as the Tsetse Flies last year – leading to animosity between the country’s football authorities and soccer pundits in the rainbow nation. Meanwhile, the South African qualifying rounds have already begun in all 52 regions of the South African Football Association. So, I hope Namibia will start putting their ducks in the row and not to be caught with their pants down as has been customary practice in the past. Namibia’s absence at this year’s Under-17 continental Championship in Togo, is just a case in point. By the way, is it just a mere coincidence that all coaches involved with National teams are former Black Africa players with the exception of Willem Kapukare, who could never have played for the Red and Black outfit anyway because of his limited playing abilities which saw him making sporadic appearances for the now defunct Liverpool? The Demise of the Buccaneers – Rescue the Sinking Ship When Tsumeb-based Chief Santos starred relegation in the face at around about the corresponding fixtures last season, many football fans including followers of Santos never really realized the consequences of life in the Copper town without the once mighty Lions from Etosha, strut their stuff in top flight football. Now, another great team is destined to bite the dust if something drastical is not done to steer the buccaneers’ ship out of troubled waters. As in Santos’ case, Pirates posses the required playing personnel to avoid relegation, but the players appear to be lacking confidence and motivation. Honestly speaking, Pirates is big stuff with a great history and has no business in languishing at the basement of the NPL log standing. My appeal to the current management: nobody is bigger than the club, if need be swallow your pride and rope in the services of the “Magic Trio” Wessel, Dansie and Imms, albeit temporally, until the mess is sorted out. Otherwise, what is a league without Pirates?