Maurice Kambukwe
REHOBOTH – Coca-Cola Namibia sales and marketing director Pottie de Bruyn says the just-ended Copa Coca-Cola U/15 Cup is more than just a football tournament, as it also serves as a perfect blender of education and sports at secondary school level.
Speaking to New Era Sport on the sidelines of the tournament, which was won by Ongwediva Junior Secondary School at Rehoboth over the weekend, De Bruyn said for next year and in future editions of the popular youth tourney, they are targeting to reach each and every learner through the cup.
Through the competition, De Bruyn believes, they have the power and the perfect vehicle to inspire hope into communities, empower learners and also address key aspects of education through the people’s game – football.
Over the past weekend’s regional finals hundreds of young fans from the town of Rehoboth and surrounding areas came in large numbers to witness firsthand Namibia’s budding schools football talent.
“Namibia is always doing things different than other countries, that why we brought it [the tourney] to the people and that’s the whole idea with Copa, it’s all about the people. The event wasn’t held in a national arena but at a community sports field, so we would love to see this event go across the country in the years to come.”
He added that the tournament is there to educate children on how to win and lose.
“The tournament will be very important for the child participating, to remember in the future that sport always teaches character, how you win, how you lose, but just the fact that they showed up and have tremendous passion for the game, it was beautiful to see.”
He also pleaded that they would love to see more spectators next year. “This was the first year that we brought Copa Coca-Cola back to Namibia and we definitely doing it again next year. We would love to have more people come out in great numbers and see the exciting action. So there’s more work to be done, in terms of advertising and other logistics so that we can get more parents and spectators to come and watch,” added De Bruyn.