UN Plaza gets a fresh look ahead of Region 5 Games Erasmus Shalihaxwe Renovations are underway at the City of Windhoek’s United Nations (UN) Plaza park in Soweto, Katutura, in preparation for the Region 5 Youth Games. Namibia will host the games for the first time from 4 to 13 July in Windhoek and Swakopmund. Organisers are finalising several venues in both cities, including UN Plaza. The event will bring together around 2,552 athletes and officials from 10 Southern African countries.  Competitions will take place across 12 sports codes, including basketball, tennis, volleyball, football, and boxing. On Tuesday morning, a City of Windhoek team led by Sidney Goagoseb, section head for sports, visited the site to inspect progress.  Goagoseb said about 90% of the work is complete and everything is on track. “The renovations are not just moving fast, they are also meeting international standards, setting the stage for a world-class experience,” said Goagoseb. The UN Plaza park was inaugurated in 1995 by the late president Hage Geingob to provide a recreational space for residents and surrounding communities with access to sports activities.

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Cosafa Women’s u17 Champs heads to Namibia The Cosafa Women’s Under-17 Championship returns for a sixth edition to be played in Windhoek, Namibia from May 10-17, where two-time winners Zambia will seek to defend their title. The draw for the group stage has already been made, with the nine competing teams split into three pools each containing three sides. Namibia headline Group A and will take on Malawi and Comoros in the pool, while Group B contains defending champions Zambia, Mozambique and Mauritius. Group C has Lesotho, Botswana and Zimbabwe. The previous five editions have seen four different winners, the first two trophies claimed by guest nations. Uganda pipped South Africa to the title in 2019, before Tanzania edged Zambia on penalties the following year. Zambia did lift the trophy in 2021 with a thumping 4-0 victory over Botswana in the decider, before South Africa edged the Zambian 4-3 in a thrilling decider in 2022. There was no competition played in 2023, but it returned to the calendar in 2024, with Zambia claiming a resounding 15-0 win over Lesotho in the decider. Though early days, several players who have competed in this competition in the past have gone on to become senior internationals. The very first finals in 2019 created history when South Africa set a record for an international match in Africa by defeating Seychelles 28-0 in the pool stages. But over the years the games have become much tighter as teams in this age group around the region become more competitive. CAF does not have a continental finals for the women’s Under-17 age group, but teams do enter World Cup qualifiers, and the most recent of these saw Zambia qualify for the global showpiece event in Dominican Republic in 2023. That was Zambia’s second participation after they also qualified in 2014, while South Africa (2010, 2018) have been to two World Cups as well. Zambia are on track to go again and will play Benin in a final round of two-legged qualifiers staged over the next few weeks. The winner of that tie will advance to this year’s World Cup in Morocco. The Cosafa Women’s Under-17 Championship has also been played as part of the AUSC Region 5 Games in the past, but this year is a standalone competition only under the Cosafa banner. – cosafa.com  The post Cosafa Women’s u17 Champs heads to Namibia appeared first on The Namibian.

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