Maurice Kambukwe

WINDHOEK - Netball Namibia (NN) vice-president Rebecca Goagoses has taken a step further as she continues to play her part on the local netball scene by forming an academy that will help nurture future stars. 

The REBS97 Netball Academy was formed with the main aim of giving back to the community and to develop the sport at grassroots level, according to Goagoses. 

 “REBS97 Netball Academy was launched recently, and it will focus on the kids surrounding the area of Windhoek for now,” she told New Era Sport. 

“The aim of forming this netball academy is, firstly, to plough back to community. We mostly only see soccer academies, so we thought of also giving the girl child the same opportunity. Secondly, we would like to nurture these young girls into future national netball stars. If you go to other countries like South Africa and Malawi, you will realise there are people who do netball for a living and even play for clubs overseas.” 
Goagoses also strongly emphasised the need to have schools actively involved in the development of the local game. 

“Some of our schools in Namibia do not have netball, so we want to take this opportunity to rope in those who don’t get the chance to involve themselves in netball at their respective schools to join and take part in their favorite sport,” Goagoses said.

Last year, Namibia was crowned champions of the M1 Nations Cup in Singapore.
Goagoses was one of those instrumental in the team’s success. 

She added that the idea to form a netball academy started way back when she was still at school. “The whole idea of forming a netball academy started when I was still in high school. I was lucky to have a teacher who was passionate about netball, who taught us the importance of the sport and how it can transform lives. With time, it got into me and I had it within me to one day come up with my own academy,” added the former Black Africa netballer.