Van der Merwe looks to promote game
Cricket Namibia is on a journey to develop the women's game with its new head coach appointment.
14 August 2020 | Sports
Limba Mupetami
WINDHOEK
Cricket Namibia (CN) is on a quest to develop the women's game and has appointed Francois van der Merwe to spearhead the plan for the next three years.
Van der Merwe will also aid in the vision for the national team to qualify for all major International Cricket Council tournaments as well as develop the national players to get contracts in various T20 leagues all over the world.
Van der Merwe said it is important to grow the love for the game through mass participation under young girls, and for them to ultimately make progress from soft ball cricket into hard ball cricket.
The newly appointed women's head coach will also focus on promoting girls and women's cricket in all regions of Namibia, and putting structures in place for a pipeline for all age groups to ultimately feed the national team.
Bag of experience
The 44-year old was born in South Africa and represented the North West Province in all age groups. He made his A-list debut in 1996 and his first-class debut in 2000 for the North West Dragons.
As a professional cricketer, Van der Merwe played in various club leagues in the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2009.
He started coaching in 2011 after being appointed as the head coach of the North West Dragons women's team. He obtained his Cricket South Africa level three certificate in 2012.
Working with the Dragons women's team for eight years benefitted the team, which has since won eight trophies in both 50-over and T20 formats.
In the 2018/19 season, the team went undefeated, and are the current national 50-over champions.
The year 2018 was a busy one for the former cricketer as he was the head coach of the South African emerging team in a tri-series competition against England and Australia, and the coach of the national women's academy at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria.
WINDHOEK
Cricket Namibia (CN) is on a quest to develop the women's game and has appointed Francois van der Merwe to spearhead the plan for the next three years.
Van der Merwe will also aid in the vision for the national team to qualify for all major International Cricket Council tournaments as well as develop the national players to get contracts in various T20 leagues all over the world.
Van der Merwe said it is important to grow the love for the game through mass participation under young girls, and for them to ultimately make progress from soft ball cricket into hard ball cricket.
The newly appointed women's head coach will also focus on promoting girls and women's cricket in all regions of Namibia, and putting structures in place for a pipeline for all age groups to ultimately feed the national team.
Bag of experience
The 44-year old was born in South Africa and represented the North West Province in all age groups. He made his A-list debut in 1996 and his first-class debut in 2000 for the North West Dragons.
As a professional cricketer, Van der Merwe played in various club leagues in the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2009.
He started coaching in 2011 after being appointed as the head coach of the North West Dragons women's team. He obtained his Cricket South Africa level three certificate in 2012.
Working with the Dragons women's team for eight years benefitted the team, which has since won eight trophies in both 50-over and T20 formats.
In the 2018/19 season, the team went undefeated, and are the current national 50-over champions.
The year 2018 was a busy one for the former cricketer as he was the head coach of the South African emerging team in a tri-series competition against England and Australia, and the coach of the national women's academy at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria.
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