Trustco Group International on Wednesday signed a sponsorship agreement to the value of N$1,5 million with the Namibian Squash Association to be used over three years towards squash development.
Quinton van Rooyen, the Managing Director of Trustco Group Holdings Limited underscored the importance of investing in sport codes in Namibia, as a way to elevate the standard of athletes to world class competition.
“Gone are the days when sport was a pastime or a hobby. Today sport is big business and we must take the responsibility to pull our young people up to the level where they must stake a claim to fame on the international sporting arena,” he said.
The development of squash in Namibia received a further boost with the announcement that Namibia will host the All Africa Squash Championships for the first time ever at junior as well as senior level.
The Senior Championships will be held at the Wanderers courts in Windhoek from February 19 to 23, while the Junior Championships will be held at the same venue from March 28 to April 1.
Seven countries have entered the Senior Championships namely Botswana, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
The chairperson of the NSA Nelson Herunga thanked Trustco for their sponsorship, saying that the sport had grown tremendously over the past few years.
“Before Trustco got involved in squash, squash in Namibia was just a social game enjoyed by a select few, but now a few years later its a serious game, judging by the magnitude of events that we are involved in,” he said.