The 2010 season of the NFA Galz and Goals Youth league kicked off recently in Windhoek at El Dorado High School.
The first matches of the league, which is in its second year, were played on June 19 with seven teams taking part in the under 13 age group and eight teams in the under 15 age group.
More teams joined the league in the second week, 25-26 June, with the Under 13 teams increasing to thirteen teams.
On 25 June the Under 16 girls played two matches each with SKW and Hage Geingob High School playing to a 1-1 draw in the first match.
Hage Geingob were the first ones to score when Telefina Nahole’s strike beat the SKW keeper in the first half.
In the second half, SKW’s Heidi Kebbel scored the equaliser as a result of a corner kick.
“The game was great, but I think we can do better, our team has improved a lot in the past few weeks,” Kebbel said about her team’s performance,
Amalia Ilonga, the captain of the Hage Geingob team was very confident of her team’s performance in the league.
“Even though we drew this match against SKW we will win the league this year, we will work hard to make sure that we achieve this,” Ilonga said.
Both teams went on to beat Theo Katjimune in their next matches. SKW won 3-1 and Hage Geingob won 2-0.
Jackey Gertze from the NFA women’s desk was very impressed with the quality of play the girls exhibited during the initial stages of the league.
“The play itself is totally different than from last year. Because of this league the girls have regular training and competition. They are more advanced than they were when we started the league last year,” Gertze said.
“Our value objective is for girls to find their own space where they can play the sport and to get more girls to be physically active,” Gertze added.
“This year we have also seen that the girls have more support from their parents, which is a good thing for the players,” she continued.
Currently the leagues are active in only six towns, Windhoek, Rundu, Okahanja, Khorixas, Gobabis and Okahanja.
“We want other regions to join but at the moment it’s a problem of getting people who are willing to start the leagues in the different towns. With all that has been achieved so far I am sure our sponsors will be willing to fund the leagues in other regions,” Gertze added.