Government should chip in – Federer

Tennis star and 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer said sport individuals should work together and not against each other to promote tennis in the country. He also said the government should help aspiring players.Federer was in Namibia for two days and spent time on Tuesday at the Early Development Centre and a local primary school in Havana to get a feel for the effectiveness of the School Readiness Initiative the Roger Federer Foundation sponsors.The foundation works directly with carefully selected local organisations in long-term partnerships and engages through the mobilisation and empowerment of local communities. In Namibia, the foundation has partnered with Lifeline Childline, Churches Alliance for Orphans and Women's Action for Development in Namibia. The initiative is aimed at reaching 3 000 learning institutions to give poor and vulnerable children a good start to formal education.Federer sat in on lessons, attended a learning group of educators and teachers and spoke to parents.Yesterday, he met President Hage Geingob as well as other representatives of the government to exchange on the importance of quality early childhood education.“It's an honour to have a sports icon here. Many sports don't really care about poor people. Someone from Europe, where they have a good life, thinks of small children, has a heart to share his resources, and comes in person to sit in Namibia next to me is a great thing,” said Geingob.Asked what Namibia can implement at a grassroots level to produce elite tennis players, Federer said it's about putting in effort to make it happen. “I'm not aware of how things are done here but I know that Namibia is vast and everyone wants to be their best in their region, but they should work together.”He added that good coaching techniques, perseverance, being motivated and understanding winning and losing goes along way.“If I didn't have great coaches, I wouldn't be sitting here. They have taught me a lot, because I was crazy and emotional when I was younger. I would break rackets a lot. It took a while to get that under control, but I wished that I had learnt control earlier on,” added Federer.He added that tennis has opened doors for him because he is now brushing shoulders with the president of Namibia and helping with education. The tennis star further said Namibia is a wonderful country with some of the nicest people. “My parents have told me a lot about Namibia and the friendly people, and I haven't been disappointed.“I hope I can come back one day and travel the country intensively with my four young, beautiful children, to see other areas and everything that Namibia has to offer. This trip this time is more about the Roger Federer Foundation,” the 38-year-old said.The tennis player holds both Swiss and South African citizenship, and added that southern Africa is very dear to his heart. Federer has never played a match in South Africa, but has lived there as a child, being the birthplace of his mother and one of six African countries that benefits from his charity. The player is planning to finally fill that gap on his rather full resume tomorrow when he and long-time Spanish rival and friend Rafael Nadal meet in the Africa 6 charity exhibition game to raise funds for the Swiss maestro's foundation.It is understood that Nadal and Federer will play multiple matches at the charity event. Apart from their singles fixture, they will also face off in a doubles match. Federer is reportedly set to partner American billionaire Bill Gates against Nadal and South African comedian and host Trevor Noah.LIMBA MUPETAMI

Government should chip in – Federer

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Namibian Sun 2026-02-06

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Government should chip in – Federer

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Namibian Sun 2026-02-06

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