Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Kapako and Mpungu constituencies took honours in the third Kavango West Governor’s Cup held at Mpungu-Vlei over the weekend.
Defending football champions Kapako made it three titles in a row after seeing off host constituency Mpungu 3-2 in a thrilling final on Sunday.
Kapako first won the cup in 2019, when the competition was last held.
Mankumpi constituency took third place after beating Ncamagoro 3-1.
The winners of the 2023 competition walked away with a trophy, gold medals and a brand new football kit, while the second runners-up took silver medals, and third bronze.
Drama unfolded in the netball final after Mpungu beat Musese 32-27, only to be disqualified and stripped of the top prize for using overage players.
Musese was declared the winner, claiming the trophy, gold medals and a new playing kit.
Mankumpi was upgraded to the silver medal after beating Ncamagoro 26-23 in the third place play-off.
“Overall, the tournament went well and there is a big improvement in terms of competition from all teams. All teams played with the desire to win and lots of players demonstrated talent,” said Egidius Nambara, the competition’s coordinator, in a telephonic interview with The Namibian on Sunday.
Nambara said there were encouraging signs of improvement from the last Governors Cup. However, he bemoaned the fact that most of the “good football players” were ineligible for the regional team due to a lack national documents such as identity cards or birth certificates.
Nonetheless, the selectors were still able to settle on 22 footballers and 16 netballers to represent Kavango West at The Namibian Newspaper Cup which starts at Otjiwarongo next week.
The teams will stay in camp until they leave for the national tournament, which is backed by Standard Bank Namibia, on 6 April.
“We are, therefore, calling on the business community and sports lovers in the region to come on board to assist with funds or any kind of assistance to the teams as they prepare for the newspaper cup. The teams need sponsorships,” Nambara said.
Kavango West governor Sirkka Ausiku encouraged more youngsters to get involved in sport, saying that football and netball are no longer just games but potential professions.
“It is a pleasure to see so many youth participating in this tournament. The office of the governor will continue to be committed in improving the lives of its community members and we want to see all hardworking sports people of the Kavango West region achieving their full potential,” said Ausiku.
The Ncuncuni constituency will host the 2024 Kavango West Governor’s Cup edition.
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