FNB Namibia Legacy Festival launched - Submitted by editor on Sun, 06/05/2011
First National Bank Namibia on Friday launched the FNB Namibia Legacy Under 17 Football Festival which will be held at the Khomasdal Stadium in Windhoek from June 16 to 18.
The Football Festival forms part of a larger FNB Africa initiative that will also involve teams from South Africa and Zimbabwe.
A total of eight teams will participate in Under 17 boys and girls matches, with each team being linked to a Premier League club. The participating clubs are African Stars, Black Africa, Oshakati City, Eleven Arrows, Ramblers, SKW, Tigers and Orlando Pirates.
After the tournament an Under 17 boys and U17 girls squad will be selected, which will be trained and prepared for the FNB Lucas Radebe International Legacy Festival at the FNB Stadium in Soweto, South Africa from October 3 to 9.
“This project is the result of the 2010 FIFA World Cup being hosted in Africa and FNB’s wish to leave a legacy behind now that the hype of the World Cup has subsided,” FNB Namibia’s Head Strategic Marketing and Communication, Dixon Norval said.
“Through this initiative we do not only wish to promote the existing and longstanding Premier League soccer teams as part of our ongoing sponsorship, but also to promote soccer development amongst younger players, which we hope will ensure that youngsters are encouraged and motivated to play this great game in and outside the borders of Namibia. It also supports the FIFA requirement that NPL clubs must have proper youth development plans,” Norval added.
Former Black Africa star player Lolo Goraseb will be FNB’s ambassador for the programme in Namibia, while several NPL coaches will act as scouts to select the FNB Namibian Invitational boys and girls squads. They include Bobby Samaria of African Stars, Ali Akan of Civics and Congo Hindjou of Eleven Arrows.
Norval added that Zambian soccer legend Kalusha Bwalya will be in Windhoek to support the Football Festival.
The eight participating NPL clubs will be responsible to put their youth development teams together and if they do not have teams available, they will adopt schools.
At the launch, the draw was made for the matches, while schools were also allocated to the participating teams. Black Africa will adopt Eldorado Secondary School, Tigers will adopt Jan Jonker Afrikaner, Orlando Pirates will adopt St Paul’s College, African Stars will adopt Windhoek High School, Oshakati City will adopt St Georges Diocesan School, Ramblers will adopt Delta Secondary School and Eleven Arrows will adopt Concordia College.
The draw for the first round matches on June 16 is as follows:
Ramblers v Black Africa
Tigers v Orlando Pirates
African Stars v SKW
Oshakati City v Eleven Arrows