The NAMIBIA National Women’s Indoor Hockey Team yesterday paid a courtesy visit to one of their sponsors, Standard Bank, where they proudly presented the Africa Cup trophy they recently won at Durban.

After beating South Africa 2-0 in the Africa Cup final, Namibia have qualified for the World Cup for the second time in a row and will face the world’s best nations again in Lieven, Belgium. , in February of next year.

Standard Bank outgoing chief executive Vetumbuavi Mungunda said they were very proud of the team.

“We are very proud of you and we know you will do well at the World Cup next year. It is sometimes difficult to understand where the talent comes from to beat a much bigger country like South Africa, which has a lot more players, volumes for the Namibia Hockey Union management, so to Marc Nel and his team, congratulations, ”he said.

“We were watching the games on social media and we were so proud when our captain Maggy was interviewed – it showed the passion and emotions that came with it and that it came from the heart,” he said, adding that they hoped to remain a sponsor. hockey in Namibia.

“We are very proud – we hope to continue this partnership and we are looking to get involved again at the development level,” he said.

NHU President Marc Nel also congratulated the team and thanked Standard Bank for their support.

“Hockey is an amateur sport in Namibia, so we don’t get any funding from the world governing body, our funding is only from the private sector, so we are very grateful to Standard Bank who not only is sponsoring us now, but has We have also sponsored our development program in the past. This achievement comes from the development that we have put in place in clubs and schools over the past decade, ”he said.

“A few years ago we had the oldest team in the World Cup, but now we have the youngest team with an average age of 21 or 22, while most other countries will have between 26 and 28 years old. With the few players we have it is a great achievement – I thought we were still in a building phase but our women stunned everyone. It was a fantastic achievement to beat South Africa at home and it was a clear 2-0 win, not like the last time we beat in extra time, ”he said.

“Thank you to Standard Bank for your financial support, they help us cover our costs and participate in international competitions, which is important, because the more we participate in international competitions, the better we will become. This team has inspired thousands of young people to play hockey in the future, not just girls but boys as well, ”he added.

Team vice-captain Sunelle Ludwig said the financial support took the stress out of having to raise your own funds for travel.

“Thank you Standard Bank for your sponsorship, it really helped us a lot. In the past we always had the stress of having to pay ourselves to compete internationally, but now we don’t have to worry about it anymore and we can just focus on the game. hockey. “

Team coach Erwin Handura said their recent success was a result of Standard Bank’s development support many years ago.

“I participated in the Standard Bank development program from 1992 to 2002. I traveled all over the country and this program had a great impact. One of the best products in this program is Maggy Mengo. In 1997, she was still a student at Elim Primary School when I first saw her. Two years later I picked her for the national team at 15 with another 15 year old girl and people said they were too young but I said it wasn’t for the moment, but for later, and I was looking to the future. Like Caitlin Gillies now, she is only 17, but she scored one goal and made another in the final against South Africa, “he said.

Team goalkeeper Petro Stoffberg, who won the player of the tournament award, said it was a team effort.

“Anyone could have won it – we all played so well and without my team I couldn’t have won it.”