We will increase mass participation – Rukoro
Football in Ohangwena Region is expected to reach new heights in the next few years.
The deal between Namibia, GIZ and FIFA to rehabilitate football facilities in Ohangwena Region has been sealed.
In an interview with Sport Wrap NFA's Secretary-General Barry Rukoro said that project is now a reality, as the tender has already been advertised in local newspapers.
The deal was signed last week Wednesday and according to Rukoro, the number of aspiring footballers that will benefit from the facilities excites him.
“We have overcome the challenge that was there, and I am very grateful, because for us to increase mass participation and discover elite players, we needed to create the environment in a vastly populated area in our country,” he said, adding that it will soon become a reality.
“Many children in that region will now have an opportunity to access good facilities, to receive good education and the potential to dream to one day play for a premier league club, turn professional and play for the national team and that will become bigger.
So, this is in our best interest to really make this project work because there are needy areas in the country that need the same facilities,” he said.
He mentioned that the project can only go forward if Ohangwena is a success and it is not just about creating facilities but bringing life in those facilities because once they we are done with those facilities, coaching trainings will continue.
“We want to replicate everything that we are doing at the technical centre in all the 16 facilities that we are putting up there,” he said.
Rukoro said the programme is rare in Africa and “we are going in a totally new space that has never been happening anywhere in Africa.”
The German Football Association (DFB), NFA and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (a global service provider in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), alongside FIFA, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to show their commitment to the project.
The far-reaching project will seek to enrich the lives of a vast number of Namibian children by benefitting 23 schools and one vocational training centre in the country, while also aiding the NFA with the expansion of youth football at grassroots level by introducing football and other sporting competitions in schools.
FIFA and the NFA will renovate existing football pitches at selected schools and institutions working with young people, with FIFA and the DFB helping to provide football equipment and educate instructors in coaching, refereeing and league management.
The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development will build 44 new sport fields for football, basketball, volleyball and netball at the selected schools.
The MoU is in line with FIFA 2.0: The vision for the future, under one of the three key objectives: to 'Grow the Game'.
It also builds on the positive work carried out in Namibia last year. In July 2016, FIFA, the DFB and the NFA organised a grassroots coaching course for local instructors in Eenhana, the capital of the Ohangwena region and there was a further coaching and life-skill course for school teachers in November, organised by NFA and GIZ, supported by FIFA and the DFB.
- Additional reporting FIFA
KAINO NGHITONGO
In an interview with Sport Wrap NFA's Secretary-General Barry Rukoro said that project is now a reality, as the tender has already been advertised in local newspapers.
The deal was signed last week Wednesday and according to Rukoro, the number of aspiring footballers that will benefit from the facilities excites him.
“We have overcome the challenge that was there, and I am very grateful, because for us to increase mass participation and discover elite players, we needed to create the environment in a vastly populated area in our country,” he said, adding that it will soon become a reality.
“Many children in that region will now have an opportunity to access good facilities, to receive good education and the potential to dream to one day play for a premier league club, turn professional and play for the national team and that will become bigger.
So, this is in our best interest to really make this project work because there are needy areas in the country that need the same facilities,” he said.
He mentioned that the project can only go forward if Ohangwena is a success and it is not just about creating facilities but bringing life in those facilities because once they we are done with those facilities, coaching trainings will continue.
“We want to replicate everything that we are doing at the technical centre in all the 16 facilities that we are putting up there,” he said.
Rukoro said the programme is rare in Africa and “we are going in a totally new space that has never been happening anywhere in Africa.”
The German Football Association (DFB), NFA and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (a global service provider in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), alongside FIFA, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to show their commitment to the project.
The far-reaching project will seek to enrich the lives of a vast number of Namibian children by benefitting 23 schools and one vocational training centre in the country, while also aiding the NFA with the expansion of youth football at grassroots level by introducing football and other sporting competitions in schools.
FIFA and the NFA will renovate existing football pitches at selected schools and institutions working with young people, with FIFA and the DFB helping to provide football equipment and educate instructors in coaching, refereeing and league management.
The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development will build 44 new sport fields for football, basketball, volleyball and netball at the selected schools.
The MoU is in line with FIFA 2.0: The vision for the future, under one of the three key objectives: to 'Grow the Game'.
It also builds on the positive work carried out in Namibia last year. In July 2016, FIFA, the DFB and the NFA organised a grassroots coaching course for local instructors in Eenhana, the capital of the Ohangwena region and there was a further coaching and life-skill course for school teachers in November, organised by NFA and GIZ, supported by FIFA and the DFB.
- Additional reporting FIFA
KAINO NGHITONGO
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