Into Touch

“The team is only made up of players from Windhoek.” How many times have you heard that statement when it comes to football? It doesn't matter at what level or age group it is, there is always the complaint that when it comes to national teams, only players based in the central regions get called up. I, of course, am not in a position to either justify or to disregard those sentiments but I would rather like to draw the attention of teams based outside of the capital to the unique opportunity that will be represented to them when the Namibia Premier League (NPL) is increased to 16 teams. According to the NPL this is all set to happen next season, with the first division, which is the feeder league to the top division, consisting of three sections as from this season. The biggest change is to happen in the northern regions, which previously saw teams in eight regions competing for a single spot in the NPL. But the northern first division is now divided in half and that means two teams from that part of the country will be playing in the 2014/2015 NPL season. Thus it is imperative that the two teams that will be represented in the elite league must be ready to not just add numbers but must rather be up to the task of competing effectively. And therein lies the opportunity, because this then presents teams in those areas the chance to show that there is plenty of talent there. It is the chance to showcase what many insist is abundant in the regions. So teams in those areas must get their houses in order because no one is going to give them slack or go easy on them once they get to the NPL. Mind you, the teams have less than a year to get ready but if they are proactive, this should not be a problem at all. Otherwise the whole exercise of bringing football to more regions will fall flat because the argument that this initiative is lowering the quality of football in exchange for quantity will become even louder.