The MTC HopSol Youth Television Show has announced an agreement with national broadcaster, the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), to broadcast the MTC HopSol Show once a week on television.
The agreement means that NBC TV will now be home to the MTC HopSol Youth TV Show, which will broadcast the league’s match highlights that would have taken place over the weekend on a weekly basis during the season.
The league’s director, Collin Benjamin, said it is a huge milestone for the league and youth football in Namibia.
“The players will be boosted by this collaboration. We are grateful and proud to have NBC as a partner. We are really happy that we could provide the young players with such a platform,” he said.
He pointed out that the show will help the players develop, evaluate and analyse their games so they can become better players.
“The plan in the beginning was to give the players a platform where they could display their skills. Partnering with the national broadcaster is a step in the right direction, as it exposes these youngsters to a larger audience. The whole MTC HopSol Youth Soccer League Team is proud; it is a hardworking team and wants to push all boundaries to the benefit of the Namibian child,” he said.
The league director, who also doubles as the Brave Warriors coach, said they still have ambitions to expand to another region as a way of unearthing more talent.
“It will be great if we can expand to another region. That is our next target. The talent is out there, and we need to give opportunities to as many Namibians as we can,” he said.
Apart from the league’s activities and TV show, HopSol has introduced an internship programme for aspiring camera operators and TV producers.
“We constantly want to improve and get better; hence, we saw the need to expand our team in the production department. A hard-working young man from the College of the Arts (COTA) approached us; we saw his passion and dedication for filming and production, so we decided to offer him an internship where he is able to sharpen his skills working in the production department – and hopefully, we can be a catalyst for him to become great at his trade,” Benjamin said.
He further advised the youth they should keep training and make use of the opportunity to the fullest.
“Being on TV at a young age is special – and yes, the players are improving. It is a huge motivation and allows them to dream,” the league director said, urging the parents and friends to look out for the show and support the players, as well as give positive criticism to help develop the players.