Former Brave Warriors defender shapes future stars

15
Former Brave Warriors defender shapes future stars
Former Brave Warriors defender shapes future stars

Africa-Press – Namibia. IVAN Namaseb is a former football player who can claim he has fulfilled all his childhood dreams by playing and coaching the team he has been idolising since his youth.

He has also played for Namibia’s national teams at all levels, played football abroad, and is now a youth league coach. Born in Windhoek, Namaseb spent most of his youth at Otjiwarongo with his older sister, where he also completed Grade 12 at Paresis Secondary School in 2001.

After turning out for the Paresis school soccer team where he was banging in the goals at will, Namaseb was recruited to Life Fighters in 2002 by his teacher Herman Katjiuongua, who was also the coach of the school’s soccer team.

“He was the one who inspired me to always be my best, and it was through his tutelage that I was selected for the under-20 and under-23 junior national teams,” Namaseb says.

The retired star was also part of the Otjozondjupa regional team that lost 3-1 to the Omaheke region in the inaugural Namibian Newspaper Cup final at Independence Stadium in Windhoek in 2001. The team was captained by his idol, the late Paul Nugurib.

Namaseb also toured to Denmark, Finland, and Germany with the Namibia Schools Sport Union team, while he also speaks fondly of the Namibian under-23s’ win over their South African counter in an international at the Kuisebmond Stadium at Walvis Bay.

He describes himself as a hard-working, versatile, skilful, good finisher who was capable of beating defenders and scored on many occasions. He later converted to an outstanding central defender after returning to Windhoek.

What happened next is a fairy tale he describes as “something you only get to dream about”, after he joined his childhood team and Katutura glamour club Orlando Pirates.

“Me joining the Sea Robbers was not a coincidence, because Pirates is home, and my entire family are diehard Pirates fans. In fact, my late father, Geiter Namaseb, was a founder member of Orlando Pirates.

“Pirates are almost like a religion in our household,” he says.

“Now you must imagine the hullabaloo when I, as the last-born child of my parents, also joined Pirates,” he says.The towering Namaseb became an integral part of the Pirates defence, and his superlative form for the Katutura Sea Robbers didn’t go unnoticed as former Brave Warriors Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet drafted him into his squad.

The former defender clinched the NFA Cup after they defeated United Africa Tigers 2-1 in a fiercely contested final played at Rundu, in the Kavango East region, in the 2001/2 season.

Namaseb also enjoyed a stint in the Inland Stream of the South African First Division, with FC AK, whom he helped win the league together with his other Namibian teammates.

WORK, FAMILY Namaseb, who was forced by a nagging injury to go into retirement prematurely, married Jennifer Namases, and they had five children. He is currently employed as a development coach by DTS Sport Club, where he is coaching the under-15, under-17, and the under-11B teams.

“It is so nice to work with young children. I have vast coaching experience, because I have also been coaching in the Namibia Premier League and the National First Division. I first worked with Pirates as an assistant coach before I took charge for one full season.

“But working for a big club like Pirates comes with massive pressure, so I opted to go coach in the lower leagues where I was given the opportunity to train Windhoek United. We only missed out on premier league promotion to Young Brazilians with two points,” he says.“I am enjoying every moment coaching at DTS. We have got real talent in this country, and I am particularly impressed with the boys’ speed and skill.

“I have so far reached the final of one tournament with my under-15 boys, while I also took them to the quarter-finals in another tournament. My only fear is that these young talents could be lost with the ongoing shenanigans in our football,” Namaseb says.

He says with the second and first divisions not playing, the under-18 players in the different development academies have nowhere to further develop their talent.

He says Nedbank is a big player in the DTS academy, because they pay underprivileged children’s fees and even sponsor their sport gear. Namaseb says despite enjoying coaching, coping with the scourge of Covid-19 remains a challenge in his pursuit to provide for his family.

“There is also the drought to deal with. I have a small farm in the Usakos area where I am farming with goats, sheep, and a few cattle, but my animals have died,” he says.

Namaseb says he owes DTS Sport Club a great deal for giving him a chance to make a living from coaching. His advice to young football players is to stay disciplined and ignore negative distractions, “because Namibian players are naturally gifted, but we lack discipline.”

For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here