During the 13th annual Namibia Sports Commission Sports Awards, Netball Namibia were awarded with the national Development Program of the Year award for their initiative with umpires and coaches.
Netball in Namibia is certainly on the rise. Two years ago a new initiative was founded that aimed to increase and develop the number of coaches and umpires in the country. The initiative was adopted from an existing model within Netball South Africa set up and was further customized by Netball Namibia. Results soon followed,with over 60 coaches and 80 umpires being trained in the two years that the initiative has been founded.
This initiative has been recognised nationally at the recent Namibia Sports Commission Sports Awards in the capital Windhoek that took place on the 27th October. The program was nominated for the Development Program of the Year award in which it won. The award recognises the best development program in the country that demonstrates‘substantial achievements’.
Netball Namibia Technical Director, Wency Ndjitaviua played a key role in making this possible. Ndjitaviua who played provincially for South Africa for ten years, became a coach under the Netball South Africa coaching program which she believed in heavily. Ndjitaviua then returned to her own country in which she was elected as Technical Director of Netball Namibia.
Wency says she immediately contacted her former coach, Bennie Saayman who then linked Wency up with current Netball South Africa Director of Coaches Anneline Lewis, which kicked started the partnership and thus, the initiative.
‘Immediately I contacted my old coach Bennie Saayman who was the Director of Coaches then who linked me up with Anneline Lewis the current Director of Coaches and the relationship from there just grew.’ said Wency Ndjitaviua
Wency believes the achievement of winning the national Development Program of the Year award comes from the fact that it is the first time Netball Namibia have underlined a pathway for coaches and umpires to be developed.
‘We believe that we won due to the fact that it was the first time in the history of Netball Namibia for a coaches and umpires pathway to be developed.’ said Wency.
The success of the program has been highlighted by the number of coaches and umpires that has been coached already and the ever growing interest within the Namibian Netball community to further develop themselves within the game.
Netball Namibia was awarded with a cash prize for winning this award which will be reinvested into the further development of the sport. Wency said; ‘this award money will be reinvested back into the development of the sport across the country.’
