By: Julia Heita and Justicia Shipena
Sporting ‘gods’ smiled on Namibia this month with the country bagging four medals from the recently concluded world under 20 athletic championships in Kenya spearheaded by the country’s sprint aces of Beatrice Masilingi and Christine Mboma.
Elsewhere 19-year-old Monica Shahin Gomases from Namibia on Friday walked away with R2 000 after scooping player of the match at the Varsity Sports Netball matches played virtually.
Gomases was representing the University of Johannesburg (UJ) Netball varsity cup team in South Africa.
Gomases is a Namibian National netball player and has been part of the team for over six years now.
“Representing my country throughout my sporting career has been nothing but a privilege, I take great pride in my country and the support from my country is just absolutely amazing as it pushes me to work even harder, wherever I go I represent my country and seeing how proud I make them has definitely boosted me as an athlete as well as my public figure as a professional athlete,” she said.
Gomases explained that being a great athlete takes self-discipline and knowing what one is working for and why you are doing it should always push you further despite your circumstances.
“Unfortunately, this is a challenge for young athletes, but I believe that the mindset of nothing is going to get you under and the hunger for success should push you to greater heights.
“They should work hard in academics as well because that is crucial for going forward into university sport and is actually compulsory at some point. You have to be a student athlete to be able to get bursaries and play sport while obtaining a certificate/degree to show for it.
“We have to identify these athletes and protect them as nationals of Namibia. There is so much depth in what we have to offer, even better that we have so much variety. So, let us help our athletes by showcasing their talent much more and show the world that Namibia is worthy of sharing the world stage with the rest of the countries.”
Commenting on Mboma and Masilingi’s exploits in Kenya, coach, Henk Botha thanked The Namibians for playing a tremendous role in the team’s life saying the support was overwhelming.
“If you are proud of what you are and your people are supporting you, it’s easier to perform on the track,” he said.
Botha said most young people do not know what hard work and sacrifice is.
“If you look at Beatrice and Christine they need to sacrifice things that other young people do but because of their discipline they aren’t allowed to do. They can’t eat sweet things, they can’t drink ciders, they can’t go out partying till late and so on,” he said.
