Zebaldt Ngaruka

The fourth edition of the Otjiwarongo Youth Cup football tournament will kick off today at Paresis Sports Ground in Otjiwarongo.

The annual competition hosted by Otjiwarongo Sports Academy in collaboration with Cenored feature boys and girls in U/11, 13,15, and 17 age groups.

Competition organiser Raisameua Kasaona said this year’s event attracted 40 football teams and will mark the celebration of 20 years of Cenored’s existence.

“We will be honouring this competition to Cenored as they have been sponsoring this prestigious tournament for the past three years,” he said.

Kasaona added that the tournament is a platform where young boys and girls from different parts of the country converge and compete against each other in a round robin format.

“The purpose is to expose and nurture the talent of these young players. This is also an opportunity for different football academies nationwide to mingle and create a network among themselves,” Kasaona said.

In the early kick-off today, the U/15 boys of the Donatus Primary School (PS) will face Otjiwarongo Secondary School (SS) at 15h00 on B field, whereas Okarundu PS will clash against Shooting Stars in another early fixture at 15h45 on A field.

The Vortex A and Orweto Boys will lock horns in the boys U/17 age group at 15h00, while Vortex B will play Paresis SS in the following match at 16h35.

The matches will continue tomorrow with the first match starting at 08h00 and are expected to end on Sunday.

Besides trophies and medals for the winners, there will be individual awards for a Player of the Tournament, Top Goalscorer, and Goalkeeper of the Tournament.

The City Pro U/11 won their age group competition last year, while the U/13 accolade went to Opuwo Football Academy.

Again tomorrow, Gobabis will face River Pirates at 08h00 on field B and this will be followed by the encounter between Rush Hour up against Paresis at 10h00 in the U/ 15 matches.

This will be followed by Mopane FC, who will lock horns against Otjiwarongo SS at 11h00 on field B.

Opuwo Football Academy also won the U/15 in the boys’ category, while Lindy Cosmos are the defending champions in the boys’ U/17 category last year.

The Otjiwarongo Sports Academy won the girls U/18 competition, which was the only age group in which girls competed.

Again, the organiser said that due to the poor turnout of girls’ teams, the tournament accommodates only the girls’ U/18 age group. 

-zngaruka@yahoo.com