Competitive indoor hockey action on cards

The Bank Windhoek National Indoor Hockey League starts today and will continue until April 24. The League this year consists of three leagues: the Premier, First and Second leagues. All games will be played on Friday evenings at the sport hall at Wanderers and on Saturdays at the DTS Indoor Hall. There will also be games in Swakopmund and Walvis Bay during the Bank Windhoek National Indoor Hockey League as there are two clubs from Swakopmund and one club from Walvis Bay participating in the leagues this season. The president of the Namibia Hockey Union (NHU), Marc Nel, says hockey has grown from strength to strength in Namibia. “The number of hockey players has grown over the past year,” he said. “We are quite amazed how many children have taken up hockey as their sport, not only here in Windhoek but also in other regions of Namibia. “The number of players participating in our national outdoor and indoor leagues has also grown over the past year,” Nel said. “During the Bank Windhoek National Indoor Hockey League there will be 46 teams, from 12 different clubs, participating in the three different leagues. “This is a record for Namibian hockey and is definitely a sign of growth,” Nel said. Highlight According to Nel the highlight of the past indoor hockey season was definitely the Test Series which Namibia’s national women’s team played against their South African counterparts. “Also there was the Four Nations Tournament in Durban last December where they excelled to reach the final. “The national women’s team narrowly lost to Australia 1-2 and beat both the USA and SA by a score of 3-2. Although our team lost in the final to SA, the NHU felt very proud of the achievements and the great experience which our ladies’ team had,” Nel said. “Furthermore, both our national women’s and men’s teams participated in the African Olympic Qualifier in Johannesburg for outdoor hockey. The women’s team ended in a very respectable fourth place in Africa and our men’s team in seventh place.” Namibian hockey reached yet another milestone in 2015 by completing its first national outdoor hockey league, the Bank Windhoek National League, on artificial pitches. “This was truly a historic event. Hockey is in an excellent, developing stage. Namibia hockey is now continuously participating and competing on an international level. “We have reactivated a vibrant development programme for hockey which will be hosted in all regions of Namibia and we have well-structured hockey leagues for juniors and seniors in Namibia,” Nel said. SPORT REPORTER