Zebaldt Ngaruka
OTJINENE – The Omaheke third division stream B outfit, Otjinene Sports Club (SC), have been promoted to the second division after being crowned as stream B champions on Sunday.
The chairperson of the Omaheke Football Association, Theobald Kahuure, confirmed their promotion to New Era Sports, saying that the team finished on top of the log table with 44 points from 18 games.
Otjinene SC founder and manager, KaupaseneuaTuaire, told this publication the magnificent dream was pursued from 2019 when the club was established.
“It is within our vision and constitution to have a team from our constituency playing in the Omaheke Second Division League. It was very heartbreaking to have applied for the league status twice and being denied on both occasions,” he said.
The tireless Tuaire never gave up but continued to fight tooth and nail for the team to be registered in the women’s soccer and netball leagues in the region.
“We also requested for the Third Division league Stream B, which was approved by the Namibia Football Association (NFA) regional executive. Here we are, we got a fair qualification by winning the league, and this is an amazing feeling that we finally reached step two of our dream as a club,” explain the manager.
This achievement, Tuaire said, is dedicated to the players who fought for the club through thick and thin.
“Our players really deserve a golden hand of applause, as they played an instrumental role in the team’s promotion. They showed extra effort and patriotism for the club,” he noted.
Also, the manager added that the players’ dedication was one of the remedies towards the team’s achievement.
“We take one game at a time, trained as a unit, addressing the situation of absenteeism by players and how to play with less when that happens,” he said, adding that they trusted each other and worked harder to cover each other’s mistakes and absences.
“The management had faith in the players, and that helped all despite the challenges,” he added.
Asked what will be the prime target in the second division, Tuaire said the aim will be to showcase the quality of the players from the constituency.
“We will go out there to compete, stay in the league, and are hoping to win the league title and move up the division,” he said.
Furthermore, the club founder said new players will be added to the team, as it was not an easy task to compete with the current crop of players last season in the third division.
“We experienced many challenges in the previous league as some of our players were not available at games due to various reasons, though we managed to pull through. We had played some games with eight or nine players, and this prompted us to be ready to register more players to be on the safe side,” Tuaire said.
The manager also acknowledges the support the team got from the entire Otjinene community. “We appreciate all the support we received in all the club’s codes, including athletic, netball, women’s soccer and boxing, amongst others. Your support contributed to the team’s achievement and the development of sport in the constituency,” he said.
Otjinene SC was challenged by Ozombuzovindimba, who managed to end the season with 39 points from 18 matches. zngaruka@ yahoo.com