By Kudumo Bernhold
RUNDU, July 1 – A total of 20 community football teams turned up for the annual Mudukuli tournament which was held at Mabushe Combined School, 60km from Rundu in Kavango East.
The tournament, which excluded teams from the premier league, ran from 25-29 June and was won by Real United with Mabushe Bushbucks coming second.
Many people, particularly those from urban areas, believe football in rural areas is not of a high standard but Ms. Shinkanda, a teacher from the Kavango East, founded the tournament to dispel this myth.
Shinkanda said the Mudukuli tournament was started with the desire to bring people together so they nurture rural football and realize how important rural football is.
She said this is just the beginning of the development of rural football to bring it to a competitive level in Namibia.
Namibia has good football players in rural areas but most of these players are looked down upon, Shinkanda said.
“If we want our sport to grow then the nation should realize that rural areas have good football players like any other part of the country, and that is what Mudukuli tournament is all about,” she said.
One of the coaches Haingura Thimotheus of the Mabushe Bush Bucks said he was very happy about the tournament and said such events should be recognized by the leaders of sports in Namibia because this is where you can discover great players that can take Namibia to the next level.
He said regional selectors only concentrate on urban areas and they should change that by finding time to come to rural sports events where they can scout for talent.
Shikanda said the tournament had a lot of benefits as it reduces the rate of crime, drug and alcohol abuse, and teenage pregnancies by giving the youths something positive to do.
