Let me first and foremost start off by saluting Solly Duiker, the former national coordinator of the Namibia Schools Sport Union (NSSU) who parted ways with the union last year after many years at the helm of the organisation. 

Duiker, as many of you might be aware by now, was suspended last year by the union’s board after he led a delegation of over 260 athletes on a trip to Potchefstroom, South Africa to supposedly participate in the Confederation of Southern African Schools Sport Associations (Cosassa) Games, which actually never took place.

Team Namibia arrived to an empty stadium with no other participating countries in sight at the venue. The NSSU and government are believed to have lost over N$430 000 on the disastrous trip. 

That incident led to Duiker’s axing from the union and veteran sports officer in the ministry of sport Roger Kambatuku has since been installed to head the NSSU on an interim basis until a substantive national coordinator is appointed at a later stage. 

While the Duiker saga with the NSSU remains a debate for another day, in today’s column I would like to holistically revisit the role, mandate and significance of the NSSU. 

At least from where I stand, my understanding is that the NSSU should act as a vital link between grassroots school sports development activities/programmes and the mainstream national sports youth setup. 

Ideally, one would expect them to promote the expansion of all sporting codes at primary schools, especially in underdeveloped areas and regions. 

I also expect the NSSU to help make a serious business case for continued investment in local school sports facilities, events and education and garner support from the voluntary sections of our various communities.

I can go on and on about what I think should be the ideal role and function of the NSSU in modern-day Namibia, but unfortunately, the union has over the past years failed to live up to expectations and its role within the primary schools’ sports sphere continues not be felt as it should be. 

Many moons ago, and I mean many moons ago when the NSSU was still relevant, Namibia was blessed with an abundance of junior inter-schools competitions such as the popular Coca-Cola Cup and a lot of others, which played a pivotal role in the overall development of school sports at grassroots level countrywide. 

Unfortunately, the Coca-Cola Cup and a horde of other similar competitions of yesteryear eventually died a natural death and that equally marked the down spiral of school sports in Namibia. 

Since the vanishing of those competitions, school sports in Namibia have not been the same and the NSSU has since struggled to regain its relevance. 

To be honest, the NSSU we see today has become nothing but a “foreign trip facilitator” whenever Team Namibia is travelling to various schools competitions within SADC. 

In fact, it is only during those foreign trips to regional [SADC] competitions that you get to see so many sports officials running up and down trying to make sure that everything is well booked because those trips have become their perfect grounds to pocket hefty S&T and other related perks. 

Sad to admit, but my good brother Kambatuku has a huge task on his shoulders as he is inheriting an institution with so many structural, administrative and strategic inefficiencies and it is now up to him to revive and restore the NSSU as an organisation and local school sports as a whole. 

Kambatuku has been around the block for quite some time now and I trust that he will leave the NSSU in a better place when he leaves. 

Until next time, sharp sharp!!