Head coach of the Namibian women’s indoor hockey team, Erwin Handura, yesterday said there will be no rest for his side during the upcoming festive season.
This is because they plan to intensify their preparations ahead of next year’s FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup in Liège, Belgium.
As part of their preparations, the team is set to tour Germany and The Netherlands in January next year, where they will be involved in various friendly matches against top European sides. They will afterwards head to Belgium for their actual participation in the sixth edition of the women’s World Cup from 3 to 7 February 2022.
But before embarking on the European tour, Handura said they will first host two local training camps next month, with the first camp to take place at the coastal town of Swakopmund from 9 to 12 December, and another one in Windhoek from 14 to 16 December.
“We will then depart for Germany on 7 January to set up camp to continue with our World Cup preparations. The camp in Germany will start on 8 January and end on 17 January. In Germany, we will also have the opportunity to compete in the European Indoor Hockey Championship, which will see us taking on some top European sides. The championship will be played from 12 to 13 January. This will also give us an opportunity to gauge ourselves,” he added.
After their camp in Germany, the next and final stop of their preparatory European tour will be The Netherlands, where they will also set up their camp and partake in more friendly matches.
“Thereafter, we will be in Utrecht, Netherlands from 17 to 29 January, where we will wrap up our preparations before the start of the World Cup. We also anticipate to play two friendly matches against The Netherlands, which will be a great test for the girls.”
Namibia is drawn in Group B alongside The Netherlands, Belarus, Austria, Belgium and southern African neighbours South Africa. They booked their ticket to Belgium after winning the Indoor Africa Cup in Durban earlier this year.
The squad is as follows: Petro Stoffberg, Barencia Diamond, Magreth Mengo, Sunelle Ludwig, Gillian Hermanus, Azaylee Phillander, Caitlin Gillies, Jivanka Kruger, Kaela Schimming, Armin van Staden, Danja Meyer and Jaimie Gillies.
Non-travelling members: Tara Myburg, Anthea Coetzee, Jaimie Henckert, Jahntwa Kruger and Britta Haenzel.