Shooting From The Hip Carlos Kambaekwa It is absolutely outrageous that a nation, once ranked second on the continent and fourteenth in the world, could have failed to assemble a paltry squad of ten players for a regional tournament. Or how the bloody hell does one explain Namibia’s notable absence from the COSANA Games underway in Blantyre, Malawi. Fact is: this could have been easily averted had those at the helm of the National Sport Commission acted swiftly when the media started to point out at cracks in the once blossoming discipline. Domestically, netball has taken a slippery slope journey for quite some time now, but the authorities are just going about their business as if the situation was normal. After all, is this not the very same discipline that boastfully tells the nation that Namibia is the undisputed Queen of African Netball after dispatching debutants Ghana in a meaningless two-nation continental championship in Accra. All this hype and loads of beef followed in the wake of Namibia’s dismal failure to win a single match at a Regional tournament – now who is fooling who? The problems in domestic netball have been compounded by the presence of certain individuals in powerful positions within the National Associations who have very close ties with those who stand accused of derailing the progress of the game. For many years now, the Khomas Central League has been the only region with organized structures, and to a lesser extent Oshana who has just started her regional activities with a four-team league this year. Omusati, Hardap, and Erongo regions are keeping the ball flying with sporadic friendly matches and tourneys on an ad hoc basis, while the Karas region only sees real action at the annual De Beers Tournament in LÃÆ’Æ‘Æ‘ÃÆ”šÃ‚¼deritz. Going to the Front with Inadequately Trained Soldiers And whilst this particular discipline is in absolute shambles, the All Namibia Netball Association would have none of this, and has accepted an invitation to host the All Africa Netball Championship in Swakopmund in November this year. There are two sides to the coin for playing host to international events. Fair enough – there is no written pre-requisite for the host nation to win the competition, but alas, it’s a must for the hosts to do well and keep the home crowd under the shade for the longevity of the competition. Namibia’s inevitable early exit from her own tournament could see the visitors playing in front of empty stands, and this could potentially take the thunder out of the whole exercise. The country is hosting a continental competition with less than two months left on the clock, and yet we do not have a decent team to represent us at this prestigious event, let alone a provisional squad because the time is just not on our side to hold trials. Knowing the manoeuvres of the ANNA Executive as they are always hell-bent on scoring cheap political points – some little Kanonas from the regions, who are hardly out of their nappies, would be hastily drafted into the squad to make the team look geographically represented. The arrogant attitude of ANNA Executive has driven domestic Netball into the ground, and those who are supposed to be watchdogs (Sports Commission) are not zooming in to arrest the situation, but when it suits them they are very quick out of the blocks to call certain codes to order. When the iron lady of local Basketball, Talitha Jario was temporarily bulldozed out of office by her frustrated colleagues – the Commission wasted little time in nullifying the takeover as unconstitutional because the point of “Vote of No Confidence” was not on the agenda at the said Meeting. Fair enough, but when Alpha aka “Barry White” Kangueehi was going through the final notes of his favorite tune – You’re the First, My Last and Everything, Brrra B was unceremoniously disrupted and told to rather change his lyrics into that of “Vote of No Confidence” which left the husky-voiced brother speechless since the requested tune was not amongst the repertoire. And to worsen matters, a leading official from the Commission had the audacity to tell the Congress there was no need for voting and that the motion should just be accepted as advanced – not that I’m really shedding any tears for Brrra B’s long-overdue departure from Athletics, but rules are rules and should be applicable to everybody, irrespective of gender. A Vote of No Confidence means just, that and nothing else – there must be a voting process to lend credence to the motion as tabled, so technically Brrra B is still calling the tunes in Athletic Namibia until such time as he is constitutionally removed from the pedestal. An Urgent Need for “Skill Audit” at Soccer House I’ve been in the forefront in condemning those who have constantly advocated the Chief Executive Officer of the Namibian Football Association of being a great liability to Namibian football, but I’m now going to swallow my pride and unconditionally extend my apology to both members of the NFA’s Current and Interim Committees. In recent weeks, I had first-hand experience with the affairs of the Association – my broer Soccer House is run like a Spaza-Shop by a bunch of compulsive liars and moegoes who have never heard of phrases such as “Professionalism”, “Time Management” and “Customer Service’. The problem in our football is not about the competency of the Executive, but lies squarely with an arrogant Directorate who knows very little – if anything – about the finer points of Football Administration. Whoever takes over the reigns of football should start afresh and get rid of all the rotten apples at Soccer House – there are hopelessly too many incompetent scoundrels who could not even organize a piss-up in a Brewery. Customary Practice of Hiding Wrongdoings and Incompetence Behind “Tribalism” Maybe the NFA Acting-President knew something the soccer-loving public out there was still unaware of, because when the brother took over he made his intentions very clear and immediately set off to sort out the “Dead Wood” at Soccer House, but the brother got cold feet when his destructors unashamedly retaliated with cries of “Tribalism”. Watch this space for more shocking revelations about the latest shoddy dealings at Soccer House. In the meantime, I rest my case – So, until next Friday, enjoy your weekend and take care.