Windhoek
This year’s ball games take place in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe from August 26 to 30. A contingency of 191 athletes will represent Namibia. The Confederation of School Sport Associations of Southern Africa (COSSASA) is the body under which athletes in U/13 and U/17 compete in ball games. Participating sports codes at the games are volleyball, basketball, soccer, rugby sevens and netball.
To make the games a reality for Namibians all credit must go to the Namibian Schools Sports Union (NSSU) for making it all possible. Nine Namibian junior tennis players will compete in the boys and girls age group U/17s. Most of the players are products of the very successful FNB sponsored junior tennis development programme of the Namibian Tennis Association (NTA). For half of the tennis players it is the first time that they have been selected to
represent the country in an international competition. With the Namibian team being in camp for one week the excitement in the team is high and the athletes have worked hard to prepare for the event.
Ronaldo Uirab, one of the players representing the country for the first time, said that he was thrilled for the opportunity to represent his country and would try everything to bring back a gold medal.
The venue for the tennis competition is the Bulawayo Athletic Club hard courts. The Namibian COSSASA tennis team is coached by Adrian Coetzee.
The tennis team consists of:
Boys U/17
Elias Shikongo (captain)
Ronaldo Uirab
Dantago Gawanab
Risto Shikongo
Girls U/17
Emma Bastiaans (captain)
Megan Lombardt
Bronwyn Kavarure
Leandi Dreyer
Leoni Dreyer (team manager)
Adriaan Coetzee (coach)