Karate Team ready

Rudi Bowe

A team of eighty-eight Namibian karateka are ready to put their skills to the test against some of the best karatekas in Africa at the 18th AUSC Region 5 Karate Championships. This event will be hosted by the Namibian Karate Union (NAKU) from the 22 – 25 May at the Dome in Swakopmund.

The Namibian karate team with forty-one karateka from the coastal towns of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund will compete against teams from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and Angola who are set to arrive on 22 May in the coastal town.
Since selection of the National Team earlier this year, Coach Manale has been working tirelessly to prepare his athletes for what is building up to be one of the biggest events in Namibian Karate history.
Namibia National Karate Team Coach, Sensei Llewellyn Manale said “The preparations and hard work for the team is done. I would like to thank everyone involved with this. It was a pleasure working with everyone. Team Namibia, it’s time to go out and have fun. Cease the moment and en-joy”.
Coach Manale added that his team are ready to put their skills to the test against some of the best Karateka’s in Africa.
Besides the preparation of the Team itself, NAKU has served to ensure that it’s National Referees and Judges are also well prepared to deliver a tournament of unprecedented standard as the Namibia Karate Union (NAKU) recently hosted a referee training course in preparation for the 2019 African Union Sport Council (AUSC) Region 5 karate championships. The referees’ course and qualifications exams were presented by Sensei Wikus Oberholtzer, chief referee of the NAKU was attended by more than twenty-five Namibian karateka and instructors from various organisations in Namibia.
Sensei Wikus is currently one of the highest ranked World Karate Federation (WKF) referees in the country and holds an UFAK (Union of African Karate Federations) Rank B qualification in both kata and kumite.
NAKU’s president Cornelius D’Alton urges the community to attend the event and to support its athletes as NAKU intends on making this year’s tournament one of the best in the history of the event.
The Namibia Karate Union would like to thank its sponsors for helping make this event possible: First National Bank Namibia, Vision Africa Research Services Namibia, Paratus Telecommunication, Air Namibia, BON Hotel, FeathaGrafix, Microtech Namibia and Old Mutual.
The Namibian Karate Team are:
Eveline Amakali
Carlo Amia
Jonas Amunyela
Ryan Andreas
Lana Bajorat
Rudolph Barnard
Jacques Beukes
Brian Claasens
Timothy Coleman
Bora Dadi
Stephan De Jager
Christiaan De Schmidt
Jean De Schmidt
Chris Mclune
Shirleen De Wee
Vaniya Diergaadt
Gabriella Diergaardt
Mccleod Diergaardt
Devano Diergaardt
Edward Drotsky
Elsabe Du Plessis
Yoshida Du Plessis
Maritza Du Plessis
Biandri Duvenhage
Sam Ekandjo
Rassie Esterhuizen
Mikayla Geyser
Rene Giliomee
Shane Husselmann
Miriam Idiou
TileniIthete
Riette Jacobs
Mershall Jansen
Charmaine Jansen
Roelien Jones
Monique Jooste
Henry Jooste
Emilio Joseph
Phortune Karongee
Damien Klein
Erenshia Koopman
Joshua Kunneke
Adelinde Lang
Jan_MagielLeff
Nathan Leopoldt
Abraham Losper
Caitlin Louw
Yaron Lucas
Shane Maart
Westley Marshall
Katelin Martin
Brandon-Lee Martin
Nankole Mazila
Merziaan Mouton
Nathan Muller
Peter Munkelwitz
Esterhuizen Mustafa
Julio Mwiya
Freddy Mwiya
Lilly Mwiya
Titus Nakambonde
Brian Nakambonde
Michael Nakapandi
Franco Nauseb
Alexander Neidel
Joaquin Nel
Anthony Palmer
Xavier Palmer
Ronja Porteus
Suzelle Pronk
Requelle Rickerts
Jordan Rossouw
JD Rossouw
Kyla Scheepers
Justin Scholtz
Taylor Seibes
Shamilla Shatika
Celine Shilongo
Jamal Simataa
Jewel Slinger
Julian Stuurman
Keanu Stuurman
Mayvonne Swart
Kevin Theodore
Roche Thomas
Nishaan Titus
Daniel Tjimuku
Michelle Tjimuku
Dominique Tsaneb
EhnoUamburu
Phillip Van Antwer-pen
Stefan Van Der Mer-we
Suheschia Van Wyk
Jurgen Van Wyk
Herman Van Zyl
AncoVermeulen
Nadine Willemse