Namibian needs to professionalise sport

He said sport administrators should become professional and accountable, and Namibia should strive for a growth at home strategy in the discipline. Van Vuuren told Sport Wrap that for Namibia to move into the professional era in sports, it needs focused, dedicated, professional, experienced, and qualified people to take sports ahead. He indicated that politics in sport codes is not needed in the journey towards professionalising sports in Namibia. “We have fantastic talent in our country and I wish we could keep that talent here, it’s almost the same thing that our president his Excellency Hage Geingob refers to, we export all the raw materials out of our country,” he said. He suggested that Namibians start being loyal to their sportsmen and -women. Talented Van Vuuren is one the Namibians that represented the country at two World Cups in different sport codes the same year. Reflecting on his sporting days, he said maintaining the prescribed weight for both rugby and cricket was one of the major challenges he faced. “My sport days were quite difficult because in rugby season I had to be around 95 kg and in cricket season I had to weigh around 85 kg so it was always a struggle getting my body in the right shape for the season,” he said. He is best known for representing Namibia in both the 2003 Cricket World Cup and the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup; as a result he became the first man to compete in the final stages of world-cup competitions in the cricket and rugby union in the same year. Van Vuuren stated that the bible teaches that one should maximise their talents. “I am always pushing myself to take on things and be good at them whenever I realise that this is within my talent range so I can encourage people to do that, however some personalities are just not like that and some people just have to focus on one thing at a time and do that very well,” he pointed out. He encouraged Namibians never to limit themselves because of what other people say, stating that “be the best you can and do not limit yourself because of dogma.” He added that playing the two games was also about priority. “At that stage of my life all I wanted to do was play rugby and cricket at the highest level and compete against the best, I did not have a lot of responsibilities, I was a young doctor travelling the world and doing what I love, later on it became a juggle and I realised that there was a shift in my responsibilities and desires,” he mentioned. Van Vuuren said he preferred rugby over cricket from a tender age but as he grew older he preferred cricket over rugby. “I loved every moment of sports, I love competition and I loved being able to express myself on the field, sometimes I got too carried away, I was never an angel on the field because I was simply too competitive,” he said, adding that standing in front of a crowd singing the national anthem gave him Goosebumps. He said he has always been a team player and wanted the team to do well every time he plays and mostly wanted to compare himself with the best in the world and this kept him going. Van Vuuren said one of the biggest mistakes Namibian sports people make, is that often people give the excuse that Namibia is a small country with a small population and cannot achieve what bigger nations with more people and resources achieve. “Those excuses often make us content with losing to a small margin and we should foster a desire to compete with the best and beat them and never ever settle for a good loss or being second best,” he stressed. Plough back In the African culture, giving back is imperative and van Vuuren believes that it is important that Namibian sportsmen and -women plough back into sports and that the experience that they gathered over the years grooms younger sportsmen and -women. He also admits that sport has changed enormously over the years. Technology has improved, conditioning has improved, coaching methods have improved, but what has not changed are the intangibles such as commitment and passion. Van Vuuren added that it is important for Namibia to keep developing sports from grassroots level. KAINO NGHITONGO