Maurice Kambukwe

With the Namibia Premier League (NPL) suspended and future prospects currently bleak, local football fanatics have turned to the newly-established Windhoek Super League (WSL), which is a community football league comprising of 20 teams.

The new league, which was officially established last year and commenced with activities early this year, caters for more than 220 footballers from Windhoek’s various communities and continues to serve as the toast of community football in the absence of the NPL.

The league’s matches are played at both the Sam Nujoma Stadium and at the NFA Technical Centre, depending on a particular weekend of fixtures. 

New Era Sport recently had a chat with the chairman of WSL, Khama Nakanduungile, who used the opportunity to unpack and explain the league’s setup and how they started.

Nakanduungile said the establishment of the league was not an overnight idea, as a group of friends came together with an idea of creating a platform for Namibians through sports, especially football.
“The Windhoek Super League was founded by the Namibia Sports Group, owned by a group of young black business people. The main idea behind the league is to commercialise sport in the country and hopefully create jobs for the locals. It is also there to bring people together and have fun away from the usual football politics,” he explained.

According to Nakanduungile, the league kicked off with a pre-season tournament for the 20 affiliated teams, which was then followed by the league’s first round of matches at the Sam Nujoma Stadium on the first week of this month. 

Not only is the WSL beneficial to the community, but the league also offers lucrative perks for winning teams and players, with the eventual league winner taking home N$100 000, every man of the match pocketing N$200 and player of the month getting N$1 000; to mention a few of the prize categories on offer.
He said that due to a shoestring budget, all the league’s games will be played in Windhoek for now until they have enough resources to decentralise the league’s activities.

Nakanduungile called on all Windhoek–based community teams to join the league and added that they are afoot with plans to register the league with the Khomas Football League. He added that they also plan to expand their activities to involve other codes such as boxing, athletics, and basketball.

– mkambukwe@nepc.com