NamPol lays foundation for many in sport

The Namibian Police Force continues to produce champions in different sport codes, an achievement that the head of its sports division, Chief Inspector Kenneth Muatara, is proud of.

In an interview with Namibian Sun recently, Muatara said the division''s aim is to meet the government halfway in sports.

He said NamPol looks at sport from different angles and not just performance.

“We don''t just look at sport in the sense of high performance but we look at it from different aspects, as that is the only way we can catch up with the world of sports,” he said.

He said when it comes to high performance, that is when they seriously want to meet the government halfway.

Muatara pointed out that NamPol does not only help its own people employed in the police force develop and achieve something in sports but even non-NamPol employees.

“We have got a gym in Katutura that is open to everyone and we are always ready to assist whoever comes to our gym,” he said, adding that they do not charge those who visit their gym and benefit from their coaching.

“For us it''s about starting off and moving on. We don''t claim publicity about that as our interest is not to gain but to build and make sure that we meet the directorate of sports halfway,” he said.

He went on to say that many local boxers have gone through the NamPol coaching system before joining the professional boxing world.

He said discipline is crucial in their systems for everyone who is going through their coaching.

“We have many talented people who are civilians but they fight and play for NamPol like Matheus Hamunyela, he is from our gym but he is not recruited in NamPol.

“We also have Kefas Kondjashili, the marathon runner, just to mention a few, so we accommodate anyone and do not discriminate anybody and don''t even ask money from them,” he stated.

He further said that, if they have got a good athlete then they prefer keeping them in Windhoek, “because more opportunities and facilities are here because if you take them elsewhere you are killing the motive that you recruited them for.”

“We can as well keep them in Oshakati because there are also some facilities there, but for example Kondjashili, he is a civilian but he trains under NamPol in Omusati and we produce everything for him from clothing to transport and accommodation,” he explained.

Muatara was also quick to point out that sports people in Namibia always forget where they are coming from.

“Many of the boxers before they even turned professional where are they coming from, the problem here in Namibia is that maybe some of them are afraid to say that it does not convince some of the sport people where they come from because they want to be known that they are the ones that have been behind those athletes.

“Many people even forget that the Olympic cycle is four years but they do not ask who was behind those people before they qualified.

“Nampol has laid a foundation for so many athletes in the country even though they do not say it,” he said.

He mentioned that NamPol has a coach in Omusati. “We said that any member from the community that would like to join let them do so and we will facilitate so we don''t just train our own people but even civilians.”

He further indicated that there has been growing interest from community members, especially since people don''t have to pay for the service they receive.

“Many coaches here want to be paid and that is where the difference then comes in between Nampol and others but discipline is something that we cannot run away from as well as commitment, but we also tell them about the social activities and we do not tolerate boxers beating people outside the ring, for us when you do that then you are automatically out,” said Muatara.



Know-how in sport

The master''s degree holder also pointed out the importance of having qualified people leading sports in the country.

“Everyone here is a manager and sport person but it is not supposed to be like that, as sports leader you need to have a qualification.

“The world of doing things for nothing is long dead so you need a person who knows how,” he said, adding that one might know something but that does not mean you know it all and “just because you went for a FIFA, AIBA or volleyball coaching course then you know it.”

“I have also noticed that here everyone tends to know sports but it is not supposed to be like that, yes everybody knows that you were a player and so on but do you have the qualification because if we don''t consider qualification then what are we doing? Everyone can come to the sport act for example but the question is have you ever tried to do a course is sports?”

He went on to say that everyone knows that the sport budget is limited. “The question is, do we really have the manpower with the necessary qualifications to run sport in this country? How many people have sport qualifications in this country?”

Muatara said despite the financial problems faced in sports, the country cannot run away from having the correct management to run sports in the country.

“Namibians now think that because I have a level 2 of volleyball coaching I am qualified, but it does not work like that, you need to go further than that,” he stressed.





KAINO NGHITONGO