Team Namibia has arrived in Lilongwe, Malawi for the 2022 Region 5 Youth Games, which start on Friday.
Namibia has sent 102 personnel, comprising 70 athletes and 32 officials, to the games.
First to arrive was the football team led by Namibia Sports Commission chief administrator Freddy Mwiya, coach Marcelo Wakudumo, and his assistant Gerald Gunter who arrived on Sunday with a group of seven players.
On Monday, they were joined by the rest of the football team and the team manager, who arrived with Local Organising Committee (LOC) members Chalo Chainda, Victoria Katukula and Norwin Oosthuizen. They were then joined by Minister of Sport, Youth and National Service Agnes Tjongarero, the five medical team members, athletics team and the Paralympic team on Tuesday morning.
Tuesday afternoon saw the arrival of the netball team led by Isadore Nel.
On Thursday, the swimming team and the technical officials from various sporting disciplines will join the rest of the team, completing the squad.
All these athletes join Chef-de-mission (CDM) Geramina Nailonga Haitembu and general team manager Bernadine Nengonya, who arrived last week to prepare for the Namibian athletes’ arrival.
Speaking to Nampa on Wednesday, Haitembu said everything was going according to plan.
“Apart from transport challenges, our team has settled well. We expect a few more to come in. The organisers have assured us that they will take care of the transport problem as a priority,” the CDM explained.
Team Namibia currently does not have their uniform, but they are expected to receive it just before the opening ceremony.
Haitembu added that such challenges were common during the games, but expressed hope that things would improve once the games commence.
Mwiya and Director of Sports Jo-Anne Manuel will attend the games as dignitaries, while Tjongarero will attend a Region 5 ministers’ meeting on Friday, before attending the opening ceremony on Saturday.
The Malawian LOC has organised a welcoming ceremony for Wednesday afternoon, where all the teams will be officially welcomed to the country before the games officially begin on Saturday.
Namibia is participating in six sporting codes while the games cater for 12 disciplines. Daily News
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
