ONDANGWA, Dec. 30 — Rural Namibians are maximizing the festive season to develop grassroots sports and promote social cohesion.
At Elombe village in the Oshikoto region in Namibia’s north, young players battle it out for top honours in a football match on a sandy pitch.
The Elombe Sports Tournament kicked off on Thursday and will run until Saturday. It is one of the many local tournaments held in rural areas over the festive season.
“The tournament aims to promote sports at a grassroots level and celebrate the festive season with like-minded community associates,” said Simon Idipo, the tournament’s organizer.
Now in its 15th year, the competition attracted over 32 teams.
According to Idipo, the tournament also serves as a platform for seasoned footballers to impart knowledge and wisdom to young players.
Sem Mashuna, the founder and coordinator of the Oniimwandi Village Tournament, said, “Apart from football matches, we hoped to instil a sense of discipline in young people amid the rising social problems such as alcohol abuse now affecting even rural youths.”
Players appeared to embrace the tournaments. John, a 14-year-old from a neighbouring village, said he learned some skills from other players.
“But the greatest breakthrough is meeting other young players with the same interest to play at a regional or national level, and we can grow together in the game,” he said.
Over the years, the tournaments further transformed into more than just sports events by fostering sociability.
“Sports unite people. The tournament allowed people visiting from urban areas and those living in villages to network and enhance the social fabric, relations rarely nurtured throughout the year,” Mashuna said.
The events also broke social and generational boundaries, attracting young and old supporters. “The children, parents, grandmothers and grandfathers all came, which we rarely see in other social and informal settings,” Mashuna added.
Equally, sports events drive charitable efforts. At Elombe, the event would have a ripple effect on other social and essential services, such as education, to positively affect community development.
“The event also advances various school development programs by donating all the proceeds from the tournament to the local Elombe Combined School,” Idipo said.
In the interim, although things are not always easy in the face of limited funding, organizers want to integrate the sports events with other social programs, such as beauty pageants and coaching, to give more opportunities to rural youths in the future.
“We also hope to attract sponsorship from individuals and local businesses for more impact,” Mashuna said. (Xinhua)
