Otniel Hembapu
Windhoek-The Namibia National Olympic Committee (NNOC) on Friday named the team of nine athletes that will represent the country at the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games in Nassau, Bahamas from July 19-23.
The team will have representation in four of the nine sporting codes being showcased at the global youth games on the Caribbean island. The four codes are athletics, boxing, cycling and tennis.
The nine athletes are Ivan Danny Geldenhuys, Natalie Louw and Albertus Smith (all athletics), Tangeni Nampadhi and Morning Ndevelo (both boxing), Charl du Plooy and Schuster Miller (both cycling) and Carlize Moolman and Schalk van Schalkwyk (both tennis).
NNOC secretary-general Joan Smit will be the Chef de Mission.
During the send-off ceremony on Friday in the capital, Deputy Minister of Sport, Youth and National Service Agnes Tjongarero urged the athletes to represent the country with pride and to ensure they come home with medals.
She also touched on the issue of discipline, reminding the youth athletes to always be on their best behaviour when on international missions, such as the Commonwealth Youth Games, as any wrongdoing will bring their and country’s name into disrepute.
“Be focused, do your best. You can do better than any other country,” Tjongarero advised them.
The Commonwealth Youth Games are held every four years and this year’s competition will be the sixth edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games, which started in 2000. The games were initially due to be held in Castries, the capital of St Lucia, but St Lucia withdrew in 2015, citing financial difficulties.
Canada and Scotland both offered to host the games if no other nation was willing to, but in 2016, Nassau, Bahamas was selected to host the 2017 edition. The games will be held from July 19 to 23.