Namibia’s women’s national indoor team will jet out next Friday for a training camp in the Netherlands ahead of their participation in the Indoor Hockey World Cup, set for Pretoria, South Africa, from 5 to 11 February.
Coach Erwin Handura said European teams have been dominating hockey for the longest time, and Namibia have to train hard to be on par with them.
“That’s one reason why we will set up a training camp in Europe – the Netherlands to be specific. We will play with various teams in that country to intensify our training ahead of the tournament,” he told New Era Sport.
Since resuming training on Tuesday after the Christmas break, players are working hard on their fitness level, he said.
“We have been training twice a day. The whole squad is in camp, and we are trying to focus on the preparations for this tournament. This weekend, we will have friendlies just to gauge ourselves ahead of the much-anticipated tournament.”
Namibia’s women’s team qualified directly for the Indoor World Cup as continental champions.
They are in Pool B alongside Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Belgium and Canada.
Their first match is against Kazakhstan on 5 February.
The World Cup was originally scheduled to take place in Liege, Belgium, in February 2022, but it was cancelled due to Covid.
This year’s edition will be the sixth and the first time the tournament will be held outside of Europe.
Despite having qualified, Germany, who won the women’s competition in 2018, decided not to defend their title this year.
The German men’s team also withdrew from the competition, which was won by Austria in 2018.
Namibia’s men’s team has also been training for some time now, and coach Trevor Cormack believes they are in good shape.
“We started with training last year and went on a break during Christmas. We returned this week, and I can say that the team looks good.”
Friendly matches are also lined up for the guys in Pretoria.
“We will have friendly matches against Australia and Argentina to test ourselves. I believe the fitness level of the team is good, and we have a few things to touch on before the tournament starts,” he said.
The men will also play their first match on 5 February against the Netherlands.
The other Pool A contenders are Austria, New Zealand, Kazakhstan and Belgium.
Namibia’s men did not qualify for the world cup but, together with the United States of America, they received a call-up after Australia and New Zealand withdrew due to Covid concerns.
However, these two nations are now back in the fold.
– mkambukwe@nepc.com.na