Namibia

Namibia formerly German South-West Africa and then South West Africa, is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990, following the Namibian War of Independence. Its capital and largest city is Windhoek. Namibia has a population of 2.1 million people. Agriculture, herding, tourism and the mining industry form the basis of Namibia's economy. Given the presence of the arid Namib Desert, it is one of the least densely populated countries in the world. Namibia enjoys high political, economic and social stability.

Tourism

Tourism is very important for Namibia, creating tens of thousands of jobs (18.2% of all employment) directly or indirectly and servicing over a million tourists per year. The country is a prime destination in Africa and is known for ecotourism which features Namibia's extensive wildlife.

There are many lodges and reserves to accommodate eco-tourists. In addition, extreme sports such as sandboarding, skydiving and 4x4ing have become popular, and many cities have companies that provide tours The most visited places include the capital city of Windhoek, Caprivi Strip, Fish River Canyon, Sossusvlei, the Skeleton Coast Park, Sesriem, Etosha Pan and the coastal towns of Swakopmund, Walvis Bay and Lüderitz.

Sport in Namibia

The principal sports in Namibia are football, rugby union, cricket, golf and fishing. Boxing and athletics are also popular. The home stadium for all national teams is Independence Stadium in Windhoek, while Sam Nujoma Stadium in Katutura is also occasionally used.

The most famous sportsman in Namibia is: Frank "Frankie" Fredericks (born 2 October 1967) a former track and field athlete. Running in the 100 metres and 200 metres, he won four silver medals at the Olympic Games (two in 1992 and two in 1996), making him Namibia's first and so far only Olympic medalist. He also won gold medals at the World Championships, World Indoor Championships, All-Africa Games and Commonwealth Games. Fredericks has broken 20 seconds for the 200 metres 24 times. He also holds the third-fastest non-winning time for the 200 metres. In August 1996, Fredericks ran 19.68 seconds in the Olympic final in Atlanta, Georgia. He is currently serving as a council member in the IAAF.

 
International Athletes for Namibia Sem Shilimela (left, red singlet) and Jason Afrikaner (rigth, blue singlet).

Wrestling in Namibia

Wrestling in Namibia has three names, wrestling in english, Stoei in afrikaans and Ringen in german. The Namibia Wrestling Federation (NWF) has its Headquarter in the capitol Windhoek. President of the Federation is Mr. Lukas Maree. The sparsely populated Namibia, with only 2 million inhabitants, is generally sporty underdeveloped. Across the country, there were in 2015 only 5 Wrestling clubs. The oldest Wrestling club exists since the German colonial era and is called: "Alte Feste Wrestling Club Windhoek".

International Situation

The most succesful wrestler of Namibia is: Nicolaas "Nico" Jacobs (born January 26, 1981 in Pretoria, South Africa). He competed in the men's heavyweight category. Jacobs had claimed a bronze medal in the 96-kg division at the 2003 All-Africa Games in Abuja, Nigeria, and later became the first Namibian wrestler in history to compete at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. A graduate at the University of Calgary in Canada, Jacobs trained for the university's wrestling team under his head coach Leigh Vierling. Jacobs qualified for the Namibian squad, as the nation's first and lone wrestler, in the men's heavyweight class (96 kg) at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, with a remarkable milestone. Earlier in the process, he placed sixth in the 97-kg division at the 2003 World Wrestling Championships in New York City, United States, which automatically secured him a spot for his Olympic debut. Naatele Sem Shilimela (born 30 July 1991) is the second namibian  Wrestler who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in the (-55 kg event).

Shilimelas greatest success so far is third place at the African Championships 2012-55 Kg freestyle. Shilimelas home club is the "After School Wrestling Club" in Windhoek, but mainly he trained at the UWW Wrestling Training Center Thies / Senegal under professional conditions.

At the World Championships 2015 in Las Vegas / USA, the namibian wrestling federacion participated with three athletes.

Angula Shikongo (bronze at the African Wrestling Championships), Lukas Thomas, Jason Afrikaner and Sem Shilimela are the current international wrestlers for Namibia.

Wrestling shoes are not important for Namibias Youngsters!

National Situation

Until 1990, Namibia was indeed South African managed and linked to the sporting system in South Africa and thus excluded from 1971 to 1990 because of the apartheid policy of international competitions. Since independence own structures were constructed. In most sports, as well Wrestling, internal competition due to the small country population is low in Namibia. Wrestling in Namibia is characterized by a constant up and down. The following teams occurred in recent years in publication. Alte Feste, NDF, Windhoek Wrestling Club, Windhoek Wanderers and School Windhoek (all in Windhoek), OSG Otjiwarongo, Spartan Okahandja and Swakopmund. Not all of these clubs could keep. 2015 still existed five clubs:

After-school wrestling club, Usakos Wrestling Club, Alte Feste Wrestling Club, Otjiwarongo Wrestling Club and Windhoek Afrikaanse Privaat Skool Wrestling Club (WAP).

The Cuban coach Luis Forcelledo Paz could set a new course in "After School Centre Wrestling Club". The club from Khomasdal (suburb of Windhoek) has the tradition club "Alte Feste" become obsolete in terms of performance. The International exchange is difficult in southern Africa, but the wrestlers from Botswana and South Africa try to attend tournaments each other.

Wrestling Development Program

The Namibian Wrestling Federation tries to establish eight new clubs before the end of March 2016, with the towns and places identified for development at a grassroots’ level being Stampriet (Elnatan), Rehoboth, Swakopmund, Otjiwarongo, Okahandja, Oshakati, Outjo and Khomasdal in Windhoek.

Wrestling rides out troubling year to plan for 8 new clubs The establishment of eight new clubs would set the wheels in motion for the formation of eight more clubs in 2017, with the aim being to establish 40 new clubs over the next five years.

Having spent six weeks taking a coaching course in the USA over September and October,NWF President Maree is hopeful that his experience gained there will assist the development of this project.

“I, together with 34 other high-profile coaches from all over the world, have been on an International Coaching Enrichment Certificate Program for six weeks in the USA under the supervision of the Olympic Committee, US Olympic Committee and the University of Delaware during September and October. This course hopes to help with the development of sport in general all over the world. My project for this course will be to write a proper, workable, marketable, sustainable and thorough development plan for wrestling which will cover everything from grassroots’ development to the high-performance management of athletes,” explained Maree.

“Our aim for this development plan is to establish a foundation for sport in Namibia so that other sports codes can borrow from it and adapt it to their needs”, he added.

Wrestling in Namibia has been thriving at youth level over the last few years through the After- School Centre’s Program, but somewhat stagnated at senior level. Maree said this was mainly due to a lack of commitment from parents, ‘politics and funding’ as well as the lack of a development program.

Wrestling Federation: President Lukas Maree

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