Grassroots football league launched
HopSol Solar Power announced a commitment of N$1 million over the next three years for the establishment of a football youth league, known as the HopSol Youth Soccer League.
The announcement was made this week at the launch attended by various football clubs, sports personalities and other strategic partners in the sport.
The league is an initiative by BKK Auas Sports Trust, which aims to create a platform for soccer development among youth aged 9 to 19 years old. The League will start on 24 February and end on 28 October.
Speaking at the launch, Co-Founder of BKK Auas Sports Trust, Collin Benjamin said that the objectives of the youth league is to broaden the current scope of organised youth soccer and revive the school’s soccer culture within the country.
“In the past, rivalry was healthy and leagues were fiercely contested across different schools. The establishment of the HopSol Soccer Youth League will allow players to develop their talents, reigniting the passion for soccer among the youth and bringing different ethnic, social and racial groups together” Benjamin said.
The league will target 10 teams per category within the 9 to 19 years old age group in Windhoek and expansion to other regions will commence at a later stage.
Founded in October 2016, BKK Auas Sports Trust seeks to promote quality sports development locally and internationally.
Chairman of HopSol, Robert Hopperdietzel, expressed the company’s desire to utilize the HopSol Soccer Youth League to enhance the quality of skills, creating talented players that can compete among the best in the world.
“We would like to use sport as a vehicle to remove at least 1000 children off the streets and create future soccer icons that can place Namibia on the global map,” Hopperdietzel added.
Approximately 650 players from different clubs and schools are expected to participate in the league this year. Other focus areas of the league will be to build up sustainable competition structures that will allow continuous integration of potential new clubs, schools, academia and development programmes, while creating opportunities for all classes of society, culture and nationality to come together to celebrate the joy of football.
