OPUWO: Opuwo in the Kunene Region will host the first edition of the Dr Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah Cup this weekend.
The tournament, the biggest grassroots sporting event on the Kunene regional sports calendar, will be held under the theme ‘Youth Revival in Sports’ at the Newman Katuta Sports Field.
It will feature four categories – football, netball, volleyball and tug-of-war.
One of the organisers of the event, Tuaondja Mbinge, on Thursday said the tournament is aimed at bringing together sports fans and entrepreneurs to promote sports, tourism, and talent recognition.
“Our main objective is to revive sports and to learn from one another while creating awareness of the value of sports as a source of livelihood to economic growth and to reduce poverty, as well as achieving sustainable development through sports,” Mbinge stated.
The tournament will also be used to solicit donations to renovate the sports field and develop new stadiums.
Mbinge further said the competition organisers have set aside N.dollars 100 000 to be divided among the four categories, with more than 30 football, 15 netball, five volleyball, and four tag-of-war teams competing in the event.
Teams in the tag-of-war category are required to register with N.dollars 400, while volleyball teams pay N.dollars 700 and netball teams N.dollars 1 000, while football teams pay N.dollars 1 700 to register.
The winning team in the tag-of-war category will receive N.dollars 2 500, the runner-up N.dollars 1 500 and the third-placed team, N.dollars 1000.
The winner of the volleyball category will get N.dollars 5 000 plus a trophy, the runner-up will receive N.dollars 3 000, and the semi-final losers will each receive N.dollars 2 000.
The netball champions will get N.dollars 10 000 and a trophy, while the runner-up will receive N.dollars 5 000 and the semi-final losers will each receive N.dollars 2 500.
The tournament’s biggest prize winners will be the football champions, who will get N.dollars 25 000. The runner-up will receive N.dollars 15 000 and the semi-final losers will receive N.dollars 5 000 apiece.
Only three Namibian premier league players will be allowed to compete per team, Mbinge said.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency