Failed tour with no bus, hopefully 'just a hiccup'

Administrative bungles on the side of the sports ministry led to an intended tour of the Namibia Wrestling Federation to be undermined by a lack of transport options to South Africa, with most of the selected wrestlers eventually left stranded at home.

The Namibian presence at the prestigious Johnnie Reitz Big Five Open held in Pretoria last weekend was reduced to a much smaller group of club representatives, comprised from those whose parents were financially able to make travel arrangements.

The bulk of the intended squad of developing wrestlers – many of whom have almost never previously travelled outside Windhoek, or outside their home towns – were left disappointed when confirmation finally came through that they would not be departing to a big event in South Africa, which would have provided much-valued exposure.

While the Wrestling Federation’s application for bus transport supplied by the ministry is understood to have been submitted in orderly and timely fashion, the reality came down to a continued delay until late last week, before the bus trip was finally called off.

For days ahead of the intended departure, some wrestlers from other regions had been accommodated at the After School Centre in Katutura, which is also a wrestling club, before finally returning home with a sense of disappointment.

The newspaper understands that the Wrestling Federation had to arrange the somewhat embarrassing withdrawal of its intended participation ahead of the tournament in Pretoria.

The Wrestling Federation’s president Colin Steytler says lessons will be learned from this hiccup and the wrestlers will definitely be making future trips to South Africa.

“Our federation is building a development squad in preparation for the Youth Olympics in 2026 and also to qualify wrestlers for the 2028 Olympic Games, and these tours to South Africa forms a vital part of this preparation.

“During June a team went to RSA and won all of their categories, for which the ministry gave us transport and everything worked out well. We are confident that the issues will be addressed and that we will achieve our objectives with continued support from the Ministry of Sport and the Sports Commission.”