A basketball clinic for coaches that was opened by an international coach turned into a severe rebuke of â??Namibian timeâ?? as most of the coaches turned up late for the start of the event.
The Namibia Basketball Federation had invited internationally renowned basketball coach Bill McCammon to conduct a week-long clinic for about 35 coaches from nine different regions in Namibia, with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the Namibia National Olympic Committee (NNOC) footing the bill.
But McCammon as well as the Namibia Sport Commissionâ??s commissioner for basketball Charles Nyambe were clearly not impressed as the coaches arrived late for the official opening of the clinic.
The official opening was further delayed as delegates waited for NSC chief administrator Rusten Mogane, who eventually arrived 45 minutes after the scheduled start.
Nyame rebukes coaches
Nyambe rebuked the coaches for being late, saying that their behaviour was unacceptable.
â??Most of you arrived after the official start, yet you are all staying here in the hostel. This is unacceptable. If an investor walked in here and saw this turn out, he would immediately walk away. There is no such thing as Namibian time. Time is time. Itâ??s by choice that you decide to be late. Let this be the last time that this happens, because Bill McCammon has been sent here by FIBA and time and money has been invested for him to come by the NNOC,â? he said.
Nyambe said the real test would come only after McCammon left Namibia, since it would be up to the coaches to plough their knowledge back into the communities.
â??If only ten of you turn out to be what we are looking for, then the course would have been worthwhile,â? he said.
NSC looking for results
Mogane apologised for being late, saying he had to attend to â??higher officesâ?? and reiterated Nyambeâ??s insistence on punctuality.
Mogane said the NSC had encountered many problems with basketball in recent years, but they felt that it was a code that should do well internationally.
â??There are a few things that do not make us happy. We cannot just talk, there also have to be actions. At the end of the day we have to achieve results, because our sponsors are investing a lot and there are no returns for them,â? he said.
Mogane said the NSC was working on new categories which would determine how much funding sport codes would receive in future, adding that long term development plans would play an important role in securing funding.
McCammon disappointed
McCammon was clearly disappointed with the late start, saying that if the participants could not be there on time, they should not come at all.
â??Before I arrived here, the pre-correspondence was great and I thought everything would work out fine, but the first function here turned out differently. If you canâ??t be here on time, you will not participate in the course,â? he said.
McCammon said he would teach the basic fundamentals and that the technical levels of Namibiaâ??s players could be greatly improved.
â??After the clinic, the coaches need to go out and find players in their regions. They need to coordinate with their school programs,â? he said.