//Kharas wins Skorpion Zinc Under-17 Cup

WINDHOEK, 28 AUG – The //Kharas Under-17 boys football team was on Monday crowned the champions of the 2018 Skorpion Zinc Under-17 (U-17) Cup after beating Omaheke 3-1 on penalties.
//Kharas walked away with the coveted youth football trophy, N$25 000 and gold medals at the championship held from Friday to Monday in the Otjozondjupa Region at the Omulunga Stadium in Grootfontein.
Football powerhouse Omaheke took their silver medals along with N$15 000.
To reach the final, //Kharas caused an upset when they beat Khomas 1-0 in their opening match of the competition and went on to win their second match 6-0 against Zambezi.
In their third match, they eliminated three-time competition winner Omusati after their 2-2 draw in Group C.
In the semi-finals on Monday morning, the boys from the south beat host region Otjozondjupa 2-0 with goals from Dandre Both and Desmond Christians.
The final between Omaheke and //Kharas ended goalless before the crowning of //Kharas as champs on penalties, becoming the third region to put their name on the trophy. Khomas won the cup in its maiden edition in Keetmanshoop in 2013 and Omusati collected it in 2014, 2015 and 2017.
The competition did not take place in 2016.
Speaking to Nampa after the competition, //Kharas team chef de mission Suzel Cloete said she was pleased with the team and hoped this crop of footballers would be groomed together for future regional teams.
“We had a strategy that worked for us starting with preparations. We just had three members who ran training and all the logistics for the team which worked well instead of having an exco (executive committee) running things,” she said.
Cloete added that 10 of the young players who competed in the U-17 squad will be promoted to the U-20 squad that competes in The Namibian Newspaper Cup.
“This is the first time that our team has won any youth football competition and they made our region really proud. We are going to groom them for future youth competitions,” said Cloete.
After four days of football with 30 games played, 56 goals were scored and Otjozondjupa finished third after beating the Erongo Region 1-0 in the third-place play-off. The two teams each received N$7 000 for their efforts.
In the individual prizes, Kavango West walked away with the Fair Play award which had a cash value of N$2 000; Anton Kanyetu was selected Match Official of the Tournament (N$2 000) and Ulpianus Ameb of Otjozondjupa took home N$3 000 for scoring eight goals.
Omaheke’s Vejora Katjatenja walked away with the Best Goalkeeper award and N$3 000 while the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament award worth N.dollars 4 000 went to //Kharas’ Both. – NAMPA