Welwitschia school athletes compete at Swakop
About 35 schools from the coast participated in the Welwitschia zonal school athletics competition at Swakopmund for a place in next weekend’s Erongo zonal athletics tournament.Over 450 under-11 to under-19 learners from public and private schools in Walvis Bay and Swakopmund districts - known as the Welwitschia Zone - took part in various track and field events.
A selection from these will participate in the regional event, which will also be held at Swakopmund, and compete against other athletes from the three other zones in Erongo, namely Daures, Omaruru and Karibib.
These zones already hosted their tournaments earlier this month, and according to the chairman of the Erongo School Sport Region, Given Gowaseb, 120 athletes have already been chosen.
“Now we are just going to add those from Welwitschia, and look forward to a good competition next weekend,” he said.
Identify talent
He explained that the district events were the first real competitions for the athletes, who were selected at inter-house competitions.
“At the inter-house events, they are not really exposed to outside competition, so these district and zonal events are the first opportunities for them to measure their abilities,” he said. “It is also at these zonal events that we identify the talent who go to the regional and then national levels.”
Chairperson of the Welwitchia School Sport Zone Lucinda Resandt said the Welwitschia zone competition was supposed to take place the previous weekend, but because of Independence Day celebrations, it was postponed.
She said the event is very important as this is where athletes develop their abilities to eventually become Namibia’s representatives on the world stage.
“It is at events like these where Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi were recognised. There is a lot of talent, and a lot of competition," she said.
“We [the Welwitschia zone] have a very good team – we call them the A-team,” Resandt said.
This year, an electronic time and place keeper was appointed to ensure accurate timing for better performance development.