An athlete's viewpoint

“I think I’ve lost function of my left hand,” is all I can say after my first day training in one of the local boxing gyms... I guess I’m running ahead in my storyline, so let me start from the beginning. You see, as a sport journalist, I have heard people talk sport from all sorts of angles but the one voice that is often drowned in all the hype is the story of the person who is actually in the ring, in the pool, on the field, on the shooting range or on the courts. That person who sweats and pushes him or herself through the pain barrier, past the obstacles in their way, past the negativity of those that keep saying that “this will take you nowhere!” In short, possibly the most important people when it comes to sports: the athletes. As such, I decided to walk a short distance in their shoes. To start my journey of being a makeshift athlete, I decided to ask leading boxing trainer Tobias Nashilongo, who trains number-one-rated WBO fighter Bethuel ‘Tyson’ Uushona, if I could join his Soweto Boxing Club for a two-week training excursion. He agreed and Monday, September 29 was my first day in his gym. I decided to follow a similar programme as most local athletes, who are part-time competitors and full-time workers. So no off days and no slacking off at work. The coach told me I need to be at the gym at 17:40 sharp. On a normal day I finish work around five, so I had to spark to get there in time. I was out of the office around 17:15 and the hustle to get a cab started. On Monday, I was lucky to find one quite easily and I made it with a few minutes to spare. I arrived at the cauldron of local sports: the Katutura Youth Complex. I was awestruck by what I found on my way to the gym. As I entered the long gravel road to the field, I saw two former world champion boxers, Paulus ‘The Hitman’ Moses and Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda. I met other top-class fighters Sacky ‘Izinyoka’ Shikukutu, Wilberforce ‘Black Mamba’ Shihepo, and Immanuel ‘Prince’ Naidjala, who all greeted with a “what-is-he-doing-here?” smirk. Unperturbed, I forged ahead and was even more captivated by what I saw next. I ran into two Namibia Premier League teams, Citizens and Civics, training at the venue. I also caught a glimpse of Paralympics athlete Ananias Shikongo and his Namib Lions Athletics Club team mates. Not to mention the many netball teams and fitness enthusiasts I spotted. Cauldron, I tell you... But my thoughts were quickly brought back to what I was about to do. Slightly nervous but most definitely dreading what I might find inside, I finally reached Soweto Boxing’s small but well-equipped gym where I was met by Nashilongo’s co-trainer, Eliphas Namundjembo. He took me through a warm-up session that left me thinking “If this is a warm-up, what is the real training then?” After this I was finally allowed to throw a few combination punches. To say I sucked would be an understatement. To quote my little brother: “When the other guys were hitting you could hear the punches but with you it was like absolutely nothing happened.” And yes, like I said, I can’t feel my left hand and I have aches in places I never knew I had muscles. Regardless, my first day has made me determined to live an athlete’s life for the next two weeks. WINDHOEK-HECTOR MAWONGA