Carlos Kambaekwa
It’s now crystal clear that the game of netball has taken a slippery slope journey and even the early optimism after the annual general meeting at Swakopmund seem to have yielded very little if anything, whilst a horde of promises have been increasingly replaced by anger from some sections within the Netball fraternity.
Instead of focusing on lifting this once flourishing discipline out of the doldrums – those heading the powerful Khomas Region Netball League have now gone to the length of suggesting that players turning out for the midweek Social League will not be allowed to strut their stuff in the league, for reasons only known to these self-styled sports gurus, who appear to have become a law unto themselves.
The sheer frustration of the process is that the Khomas Region League wants the Social League to take out Associate Membership with them, and have also gone to the extent of imposing themselves on the Social League with all sorts of silly suggestions on how the Social League should go about its daily business.
The eagerly awaited pipe opener, which was to have taken place between Civics and Wanderers last weekend did not materialize because the league would not approve the presence of players within the Civilians’ camp, who
apparently have close links with the so-called Rural Development Programme.
It should be well consumed that the league does not have any jurisdiction over the players and only their respective clubs have the right to stop them from playing in these “Mega Bucks” Tourneys, where they stand to gain massively in terms of financial incentives.
The problem is: why should the league try to restrict the movement of players while their respective clubs have no qualms with that – and what about school-going players who play for their respective school teams while intermittently turning out for clubs affiliated to the Khomas Region League.
Please don’t get me wrong, yours truly is not advocating for a “Bos Liga” but alas, the only components that are being disadvantaged by this practice are the Social League and Rural Development and
certainly not the Khomas Region League.
Follow the example of football – they don’t dictate to clubs but these unofficial leagues do have rules in place which prohibit players plying their trade in the country’s top-flight league from their activities and I just don’t understand why the same rules should not be applied to the Netball discipline.
Namibia Premier League is Being Run like a Cuca Shop
I must confess that local football administrators just never cease to amaze those who have been following the beautiful game for donkeys’ years, including yours truly.
Somehow, yours truly is tempted to believe that things will never change, or else how does one explain a situation where certain teams are constantly given preferential treatment when it comes to the drawing up of league fixtures. Namibia is probably the only nation in World football where league matches are scheduled while the National team is on duty.
The primary reason why the domestic league was trimmed down to 12 teams was to protect players from burnout ??????’??