2016-02-02Staff Report 2 Windhoek The Namibian Cycling Federation’s (NCF) first BMX Race Day held in Omuthiya mid-January was a great success not only as it was the first to be hosted in the north, but also reflected considerable enthusiasm and sportsmanship by the young participants present. With the generous support of Rand Merchant Bank Namibia (RMB Namibia), the community was not only introduced to the sport of BMX but also saw local trainers obtain their coaching qualifications to ensure that the sport remains sustainable in the region. The BMX Race Day forms part of the NCF’s five-year development plan, which aims to take cycling to all regions in Namibia and to introduce children – specifically aged between 5 and 9 years – to the sport of cycling. It is also envisaged to include BMX as an UCI cycling discipline in the not too distant future. Another important component of the race day is to train local coaches to a NCF Level 1 coaching qualification (two notches below the internationally-recognized UCI Level 1 coaching qualification) so that they can conduct cycling training sessions for kids, and thus ensure continued participation in the events. A total of 10 local coaches, sourced by Salomo Ndeshimona of the Norte Youths Cycling Club, completed both the practical and theoretical exam. Training sessions will be conducted by the newly-qualified coaches, under the supervision of Ndeshimona who is a UCI Level 1 coach. NCF’s local partner for the Omuthiya project is Physically Active Youth (PAY) Windhoek. A total of 8 new BMX bikes and helmets were handed to PAY by RMB Namibia. PAY will be managing the after-school academic/sport programme which is to be located at the Ministry of Education’s community library in Omuthiya. An agreement will be signed between NCF and PAY on the management of the bikes and the training of interested youngsters. Although cycling was a new experience for the majority of the children, 48 participated in the race day – 33 boys and 15 girls. The categories were divided into boys/girls under 8, and boys/girls under 10. The top three participants in each category were rewarded with gold, silver and bronze medals respectively. The event was made possible with the generous sponsorship of RMB Namibia, while Mannie’s Bike Mecca assisted with the transport of the equipment and Mpact Printing studio contributed to the certificates and race numbers. The coaching material plus sessions were prepared and donated by Hella Rust. Sally Harper and Ingrid Milz assisted with the planning and hosting of the event. 2016-02-02Staff Report 2
