By: Uakutura Kambaekua – Gobabis
Stiff competition awaits more than 200 athletes competing in 18 events at the first-ever track and field athletics championship hosted by Omaheke’s Cattle Country Athletics Club at the famous Legare Sports Grounds in Gobabis on Saturday and Sunday.
The Cattle Country Athletics Club was established in March this year to discover untapped talents within the region and enhance athletics in the town. Confirming the championship event, Cattle Country Athletics Club President Suzzete Swart told The Villager that this would be the first edition of the championship event in the region and forms part of the Athletics Namibia Grand Prix Leg 8.
“We started the club in March this year with 11 athletics, and now we have 45. This is the first big event we are hosting, and we want to start something in Gobabis. For our short-term goal, we want more athletes to expose Omaheke kids, and for the long term, we want to improve our stadium and see what we can do to improve the Omaheke region,” she said.
Swart said that the platform would expose the regional talents on a national level, adding that exposure is needed for a region where talents are evident. Such platforms will render them an opportunity to showcase their God-given abilities in the field of play.
“The purpose is to expose the Omaheke kids with talents. I know Omaheke has a lot of talents, and we can start exposing them. We can have good athletes from Omaheke, which may be like Mboma, improve and give us another silver or gold medal in the Olympics,” added Swart.
According to Swart, the championship event will be open to all clubs countrywide, with athletes set to register with N$ 50. “It is from all over the country. We enrolled different athletes. We have got athletes from Okakarara. We have athletes from Otjinene Athletics Club, Windhoek, Keetmanshoop, and Rehoboth, so it’s all over Namibia. It’s not only Omaheke,” noted Swart.
She further stated that the events haven’t got an official sponsor on board yet, apart from various generous individuals and some companies who sought the need to revive athletics within the region and Namibia in general.
“At this moment, we don’t have a sponsor. We just have small sponsors. I have Dunlop Gobabis, who sponsored me with a few medals and trophies, and then I have OTB in Windhoek, that sponsored the rest of the trophies. The rest is just generous people who helped us, including the entry fee,” she said.
Swart further mentioned that judging by the turnout and talents witnessed during the previous zonal and regional championships, the region can provide a platform for willing athletes to reach greater heights in realising their dreams. “We see that in our zonal and regional that we have the talents there and we can give them the purpose to do something with their lives. We can even have the next Ryan Williams there. We have kids that have the talents to do good in sports,” added Swart.
The athletes will also contest the 60m and 200m sprints, starting with the under 6 and under 13 age groups on Friday, while the under 15 and the seniors will battle it out on Saturday.
The field events include shot put, discus throw, high jump, and long jump. In contrast, the tracks will consist of the 60 meters up to the 5 000 meters, including relays that will close off the championship event on Saturday afternoon at the Lagare Stadium. All events are anticipated to commence at 07h00 and until 16h00.
