WINDHOEK – It’s that time of year again with the popular annual Namport Sundowner Sports Festival set to unleash the crème de la crème of young athletes in both the football and netball disciplines.
The village of Uis in the Erongo Region will once again play host to the annual tourney that pits clubs from various informal settlements in Erongo against invited teams. The tournament has become an august gathering on the sports calendar for the entertainment-starved inhabitants of Uis and its surrounding areas.
The two-day event, which gets underway on the 4th of next month, has been used as a stepping stone for highly gifted footballers that went on to represent their native land at junior and senior level.
The likes of Frans ‘Bulla’ Uiseb, Felix Witbooi, Brian Gurirab (Orlando Pirates), Mogale Naruseb (Mamelodi Sundowns, S.A.) and Charles Hindjou (African Stars) have all honed their skills on the dusty field of this particular tournament.
The tourney has become the in-thing in Uis and its surrounds and has maintained its prominence with a massive growth in popularity witnessed every year. The festival will once again set the platform for more young and raw talented athletes to be unearthed.
Chairperson of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) Conrad Brandt expressed gratitude for the generosity of Namport for its sponsorship over the years, adding it would not have been possible to host the tournament without Namport’s financial assistance.
Brandt furthermore noted: “The Namport Sundowner Cup has been more than just a sporting event, since it provides economic advantages to the local community of Uis, farms and nearby settlements. This sports festival creates a marketplace for people to display their products and services for the betterment of their livelihoods.”
He applauded all teams that have been forming part of this spectacular competition since its inception a decade ago and urged would-be participants to register early to avoid disappointment.
Entrance fee is set at N$800 per team while other participants will be allowed to enter free of charge. A total amount of N$30 000 will be at stake with the winners in the football section guaranteed to walk away with a handsome N$15 000 with the runner-up to receive a consolation prize of N$7 000, while the losing semifinalists will each receive N$4 000.
Overall winners in the netball division will become N$2 500 richer with the losing finalists to be rewarded with N$1 500 each for their trouble. Unlike in the football section, the losing semifinalists in the netball section will have to battle it out for the 3rd place playoff to lay their hands on the remaining N$1 000 prize from the N$5 000 overall prize.
The draw will be conducted on the morning before commencement of matches on 4 October at the Petrus !Ganeb Secondary School, Uis. For further information contact Zebbo //Gaseb at 0813796894, Felix Witbooi at 081 308 9477, Conradt Brandt at 081 35 2625 or Bethuel Uirab at 08129 5393.