…try scholarly academies

 

YES, yours truly is a proud Namibian, proud because we have proved many armchair critics wrong, proud because we have shown without a doubt that we possess the administrative acumen to organize and consistently pull off high profile sports events, proud because my countrymen and women always demonstrate an abiding sense of loyalty when the situation demands, never mind putting their integrity at stake or turning a complete blind eye on the much trumpeted plea for ‘Fair Play’ as espoused by world football governing body Fifa.

Yes, Namibian boxing can give itself a collective pat on the back for constantly hosting successful events. One thing is for sure however following last weekend’s fight against the Serbian Ajetovic it is abundantly clearly that not everything went smooth for the ‘Terminator’… ooops! the Hurricane I meant to say. The brother certainly met his match in Ajetovic at the packed to the rafters Ramatex Hall in Windhoek last Saturday. Without beating about the bush, Simon’s overall performance on the night was a serious cause for concern to say the least. And while we are made to take solace from the spoken word that the brother fought with a fractured arm for almost 11-rounds of blood, sweat and tears, those in attendance, including many local boxing enthusiasts who followed the bout on the ‘telly’ are not entirely convinced and have raised justifiable doubts over Simon’s mental fitness in keeping up the momentum while fighting at the highest level.

 

Realistically speaking, Simon’s opponent can be forgiven for feeling hard done and claiming daylight robbery by the three-member panel of judges who unanimously awarded the bout to the clearly outclassed Simon, much to the chagrin of neutral boxing aficionados, including those with intimate knowledge in the business of trading leather. Not even the unpopular phrase of ‘hometown decision’ would have convinced yours truly that the out of sorts Simon was the victor, but the controversial and somewhat shocking unanimous decision in favour of Simon was extremely ludicrous, far-fetched, laughable as it overrides any measure of human reason and logic, let alone honesty and fair play. Is it perhaps not time for those fans blinded by their loyalty to realize and accept the naked truth, which is that our one time boxing icon and blue-eyed-boy has entered the twilight of his flourishing professional boxing career.

A quick glimpse at the patchy records of all his handpicked opponents since his remarkable recovery from multiple injuries, sustained in a horrific motor accident reveals that Simon has not really been tested. He has failed to show his mettle in all those bouts. Simon certainly is among the best Light Heavyweight boxers of the world and arguably Namibia’s most successful boxing export and remains a major draw card as can be easily attested by the huge interest and ringside attendance during his sporadic bouts against low profile sparring partners, but many boxing pundits opine that the brother has not really been tested to the maximum. It is sarcastically suggested that Simon should now put his moolah where his lips are located and square off against formidable opponents not very far from home in the shape of Beastmaster Meroro and Willbeforce Shihepo, to all but convince the ‘doubting Thomases’ and finally put these escalating doubts to bed.

 

A leash for football academies

 

Watching South African professional youth football teams such as Kaizer Chiefs, Super Sport United, Wits University and the University of Pretoria running rings at will around the aspiring, but clueless young footballers from the Mario Football Academy was like having a brother in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a hospital. Our young boys were made to look like headless chickens by their clearly more accomplished South African counterparts as the young and relatively inexperienced laddies conceded goals like they were going out of fashion – 60 goals to be precise, compared to our combined and paltry tally of 9 goals within a space of 990 minutes of action.

I hope the results have emancipated and disabused those in charge of the youth football academies of their illusions. In my view the results from that youth tournament do not reflect the genuine strength of Namibian football and as a seasoned sports scribe, yours truly will be failing big time in the execution of his duties if this heedless proliferation of football academies is not put on a short leash. For starters, who sanctioned this young bunch of extremely average wannabe footballers to represent our country in such a high profile tournament without having gone through any qualification process? The poor showing of those boys in their respective age groups was supremely disappointing and embarrassing to put it mildly.

Football authorities should monitor participation in some of these tournaments with an eagle eye and demand adherence to stringent selection and qualifying standards, because quite frankly those youngsters who featured in that particular tourney were simply not the best on offer and appear to have been selected on the basis of their social and class credentials i.e. well-to-do upper middle-class parentage. In other words the depth of the pockets of your parents will not make you the next Messi, Ronaldinho or Neymar. I rest my case.

 

 By Carlos Kambaekwa