Maqonda Ndlovu
Mariental Sports Club, (MSC) has bought land to develop its state-of-the-art facilities which will feature player accommodations and a high-performance centre.
Speaking to New Era Sport yesterday, Ronnie //Garoeb, the media liaison officer said they had acquired land opposite Natis Mariental and the Hardap Emergency Unit Storage Warehouse of the Hardap Regional Council.
“Our facilities will not only cater to our team but the Brave Warriors, The Brave Gladiators and the Welwitschias during preparation camps. Instead of going to Pretoria or elsewhere, we will be ready to accommodate our teams at our facilities once completed. Who knows, maybe teams from neighbouring Botswana and South Africa might come for pre season preparations here,” //Garoeb said.
Work on the land has already started, with the area being de-bushed, cleaned and graded.
The owner and executive chairperson of MSC, Frederick Raider Jod called on corporates to come on board and get the naming and branding rights at the facilities.
“We will build two grass fields, a gym, a sonar, and accommodation amongst other things. We plan to have an institution similar to that in Pretoria, where the Brave Warriors spend thousands of dollars in preparations for tournaments,” he said.
Rod added that having a state-of-the-art high performance facility could help Namibia qualify for the World Cup 2026.
“This qualification can eliminate the perennial cash flow problem faced by Namibian Football Association. In Qatar for example, teams that qualified received US$12 million. I know that at the next World Cup qualifiers the money will be increased,” Jod added.
He said the land is 2.3 hectares and the first phase of the project is expected to finish by the end of the year.
The two grass fields, accommodation and the gymnasium will comprise the first phase while equipping the gymnasium and training people to use the facilities will be the second phase and is expected to be finished by June next year.
Engineers are expected to start with the designs soon.
The whole project is budgeted for between N$4 to N$5 million.
Meanwhile, MSC Football Team, which was established in 2020 finished sixth in the just-ended Southern Stream First Division.
-jrnmarko@gmail.com