Jacquiline Pack
(guest columnist)
In 2015, about 195 countries agreed with the United Nations to bring together all stakeholders to improve the world by 2030. They formulated the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Vision 2030 Agenda.
Besides other strategic implementation efforts to attain Vision 2030, sport is strategically used to assist the world in reaching these SDG goals.
For instance, sport contributes most actively to the following SDG goals: ‘Ensure Healthy Lives and Promote Wellbeing for All Ages.’
Statista, an online international portal providing data on the global digital economy, says the global sports industry grew at a compound annual growth rate of 41.3% between 2021 and 2022. It collects worldwide data from 425 economic sectors. The data proves that sports are vital to reaching the SDGs 2030 Agenda.
Dedicated to sports development
Bank Windhoek understands the impact that sports have on communities and individuals. Since its establishment 40 years ago, the bank has supported sports development countrywide in various codes, namely, football, rugby, tennis, fistball, volleyball, swimming and especially hockey.
Hockey has received much attention internationally, with about 2 billion people playing field and ice hockey. In Namibia, Bank Windhoek’s support for both men’s and women’s field hockey started in 2016 with a sponsorship of N$250 000. Over the past seven years, this amount gradually increased to N$2 million.
In supporting the Namibia Hockey Union, the sport has performed well over the years – from grassroots to international level.
The sponsorship of hockey is a success story for Bank Windhoek. It has come to define how we impact when we give back – becoming a conduit of positive change, not just for the sake of the sport but for the benefit of the community.
The sport now has a solid foundation and players and teams have gone on to represent Namibia at the highest levels of the game. Bank Windhoek believes it is time to conclude its involvement in hockey. As we did with hockey so many years ago, it is time to explore ways to invest in other sports codes to help with their development.
As a responsible corporate citizen, the bank’s support for sports is rooted in sports development’s two fundamental principles: to increase participation and inclusivity levels and help people progress their level of the sport along a sports development continuum. Bank Windhoek will continue to support sports development because it improves lives.
*Jacquiline Pack is Bank Windhoek’s Executive Officer of Marketing and Corporate Communication Services.