WINDHOEK - Namibia’s young cricketers are privileged to be involved in a cricket development tournament dubbed ‘The World Cup’.
Momentum Insurance teamed up with Cricket Namibia (CN) and have made available equipment worth a massive N$67 000 for the Momentum Schools Challenge aimed at developing youth cricketers into formidable athletes, starting from a very young age.

The sophomore edition of the tournament saw players enroll individually where they are split up into four nations: South Africa, India, England and Australia, in a round-robin format. “By doing this, we aim to develop young players. We also brought in young development players and we mixed in young ladies to enable development in ladies cricket in Namibia,” said Vernon Louw of the Wanderers Cricket Academy.

Development Manager at CN Marcia Reed believes this sort of programme will eventually do wonders in the areas of youth development both within and outside the game.

“Currently, we have 12 teams playing cricket. These are mixed teams that hail from different schools throughout Namibia and older and younger kids help each other to get through the paces of cricket,” said Reed.

“A lot of these kids play other sports such as football or rugby though their passion is cricket. So, together with Momentum Namibia, we decided to create a tournament played every Friday, that doesn’t clash with any other sport codes, and also makes it possible to realize talent.”

A minimum of 140 kids pitch-up at Ramblers every Friday, and though this week’s edition may be the last of the off-season, the youngsters can look forward to awards that include ‘best improved’, ‘best player,’ among a host of other recognitions.

Etienne Brits, the Chief Executive Officer at Momentum Insurance Namibia, said: “It is all to make sure there is enough opportunity for young guys to perform at a competitive level. Not all schools have competitive sides and so it’s imperative that the ones from weaker schools play with kids from stronger schools and help each other develop.”