Benjamin’s dream hangs in the balance

Limba Mupetami







Windhoek

Former professional footballer and coach of Namibia’s Brave Warriors Collin Benjamin has - for the past five years - been trying to lease the Khomasdal Stadium’s B Field to open a state-of-the-art facility to groom young aspiring footballers from across the country.

This dream has, however, hit a brick wall. Speaking on the Namibia Media Holdings’ Sport Wrap show last Thursday, Benjamin said the facility is not on the horizon.

“It’s a challenge. I don’t know where and what to do. The sports budget was tabled, it has been cut.

“We don’t have infrastructure; we can’t ask for government to do that. The presidency spends close to N$125 million to secure investors, but how are we going to secure investors if we can’t do it at home already? It’s not a lot to ask.

“It’s business principles or ethics which need to be followed,” he said.

‘Why won’t you do it?’

“There is a place. It hasn’t been used for about eight to 10 years. It costs the City money to sustain it every month. Now people like me come along and say we want to upgrade it. The facility belongs to the City after all; we want to lease the place and they make rent through a lease. So, why won’t you do it?” Benjamin said in reference to the Khomasdal field.

He had previously signed a 30-year lease agreement to revamp the field into a N$50 million-dollar sports development facility for young Namibians.

Last year, he said the facility will have an artificial pitch and that it will help develop players to international standard. However, now there seems to be no light at the tunnel with regards to the project.

Benjamin said the proposed facility is a project close to his heart as the field is where he played his first football match on a grass pitch when he was 12.

This is the same pitch that gave him his start and led to him playing in the German Bundesliga for Hamburg Sport Verein between 2001 and 2011, he said.

“We don’t have access to the facility. Covid-19 came in, that is understood. There are homeless people housed on the land. We don’t know how long this will take, so for now we are just in the air,” he said.

Warriors’ chances

Benjamin also spoke about the Brave Warriors’ chances against Guinea on 28 March.

“What’s great about this is that it’s like a cup final. You have one game – 90 minutes - to secure history and make yourself an icon, personally and as a team. “It’s great that Chad has also been disqualified,” he said, adding that in Afrikaans, there’s a saying ‘een man se dood is ander man se brood’ [one man’s loss is another’s gain].

“Ryan Nyambe reiterated how huge this chance is. I wish them the best of luck and the rest of Namibia is behind them,” the former footballer said.

Asked who his favourites are in the current crop, he said with a chuckle that a coach’s favourite is measured by what a player brings to the team.

“There are a couple you can call your favourites. But these guys are good, honest, motivated, hardworking guys. One just has to hope that they are in a healthy state physically to do the job, and all things are equal on that day.”

The hustle continues

On whether he misses the team, he said: “It’s to be expected, I’m still a coach, but action in the MTC Youth Hopsol League keeps me busy”.

Meanwhile, Benjamin has secured a deal with One Africa which will expose the Hopsol players’ talent to the rest of the world.

“We hustled around to get this. This is a milestone; there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.

“We have to create the content and have a schedule as to how things will run. But this is a window of opportunity to showcase their talent to a greater audience,” he said.