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Home / Football still weak on marketing… strike while the iron is hot
Football still weak on marketing… strike while the iron is hot
2015-07-24Staff Report 2 It’s with great concern and dismay that yours truly has taken note of the laxity, or rather the supposedly unintentional failure of football authorities, including corporate businesses to build on the legacy left by the Brave Warriors’ historic triumph in the COSAFA Senior Challenge, let alone the successful hosting of the CFA Women’s Championship. My broertjie my bra, it’s not dubbed the beautiful game for naught. Football around the globe and in Namibia in particular is a much sought-after brand, an adored commodity, whose demand knows no boundaries. But alas, the packaging aspect of this precious product leaves much to be desired, so to speak. One would have expected the local football scene to be buzzing with enthusiasm with local companies and the football fraternity joining the bandwagon to handsomely cash in. Football authorities missed out on an ideal opportunity to market our victorious national team, the Brave Warriors in the most dignified fashion. Alas, selling well-designed state-of-the-art replica jerseys and other accessories related to the victorious Warriors would have been the cherry on top of the cake. This is the most appropriate time to invite football powerhouses from across the globe for exhibition matches against the regional COSAFA Champions. After all, who does not want to match their strength and pit their skills against the real McCoy of Southern African football? I’m just asking… Let’s stop the usual lame excuses of shielding our failures by putting the blame squarely on the shoulders of “insufficient funds”. It’s not always about how much moolah one has stuffed in their bank accounts, or at their immediate disposal, but a matter of common sense and good planning. Julihno is a case in point! It’s indeed a shame for the so-called big teams to be outgunned by a team that is still in her infant stages. Yours truly is referring to the Rundu-based outfit’s landslide (or rather shameful) victory from all the accumulated sms’es that propelled them to earn a spot in the Dr Hage Geingob Cup, well-ahead of established clubs. It’s all about a well-defined marketing strategy, careful planning and more importantly, appointing the right people with appropriate knowledge and expertise to lead the way. Yours truly sincerely hopes and trusts that many clubs and football officials, including those at the helm of domestic football have learned a couple of wise tricks and good lessons from Julihno. Tribute to a departed fellow pen pusher On a rather sad note, another tragedy has befallen southern Africa and indeed the entire African continent with the sad news that one of the most fearless and committed sports journos in modern day journalism has taken a bow from the game of life. Yours truly has with great sadness resolved to make space in your esteemed column, ‘Shooting from the Hip’, to pay homage to a departed buddy, confidante and fellow sports scribe, the late Ben Ramatsyi Mohaloa. I came to know Bra Ramatsyi at the revered Institute for the Advancement of Journalism in Parktown, Johannesburg, under the shrewd tutorship of renowned investigative sports journalist, Andy Colguhoun, way back in 1997. Ever since that time the two of us became close buddies and would often bump into each other at major international sporting events. Bra Ramatysi’s death has once again made one realise that as human beings we are dangerously skating on borrowed time on this Mother Earth. One never exactly knows when it is half time or the game is about to end. To sum it up, death is like an old buddy who keeps following you wherever you go and one day taps you on the shoulder with the following words: “Heita bruh! Do you still remember me?” And in the time it takes to turn around for affirmation, you’ve become a statistic. Just as I was gathering myself after having just lost a long-time musical buddy and soul brother, the late Ta Blaar Camm (Tokkies), one of Namibia’s hottest bassists and most accomplished musos of all time – more sad news was in the offing. Bra Ramatsy died peacefully in his sleep from an acute heart attack. HAMBA KAHLE, Mfo, until we meet again in heaven. May your soul rest in eternal peace. I rest my case. 2015-07-24Staff Report 2
