Namibia
| Namibia | |
 | |
| Continent | Africa |
| Population | 2,100,000 |
| Registered players | 438 |
| Referees | 57 |
| Rinks | 5 (inline) |
| National teams | None |
| National federation | Namibia Ice and InLine Hockey Association |
| IIHF since | May 31, 1998 (left in 2017) |
| IIHF ranking | N/A |
| Top league | None |
Nambia is a country in Southern Africa. Windhoek is the capital and largest city.
History of hockey in Namibia
The Namibia Ice and InLine Hockey Association is the governing body of ice and inline hockey in the country. Namibia became an IIHF member on May 31, 1998.[1]
An article published by the IIHF in 2003 mentioned that the country was attempting to get some ice hockey activities going:
"Hockey continues to grow in all corners of the world. The most recent country to express interest in joining the IIHF as a ice hockey playing member is the nation of Namibia, located in southern Africa.
Namibia is already a member of the IIHF, but only as an In-Line Hockey nation. Now, backed by European allies, the African nation is making the push to develop an ice hockey league.
The idea started with German Roland Kunz, who is currently living in the Namibian city of Windhoek. He enlisted the help of fellow German Lothar Sigl who has taken the challenge to heart and is recruiting help from all over the world.
Sigl's first phone call was to former IIHF Technical Director Roman Neumayer, who could be instrumental in helping the nation meet the IIHF minimum standards for membership. Those minimum standards include having at least three clubs and being a member of the National Olympic Committee.
Namibia is well on the way to meeting those standards. Already, 40 people have expressed interest in playing. Those 40 players will have their chance to take to the ice in Cape Town, South Africa, for a training camp from December 15-20. German Bernd Haake will run the camp, and Sigl will donate the uniforms.
After the training camp, Sigl and the remaining players will turn their attention to developing the sport within the borders of Namibia. The nation hopes to build an 1,800-seat arena in Windhoek with the assistance of Swiss Contractor, Benjamin Buhrer. They are also hoping to have a second club started in Botswana after December."
The training sessions of the Windoek Lions Ice Sports Club, founded on December 1, 2003, were staged at the Grand Casino Ice Hall in Cape Town as planned. On the final day, the Namibian players played exhibition games against teams from the Western Province of South Africa.
The Namibian U14 team (consisting of U10, U12, and U14 players) lost 10-3 to the South African U16 team. A U18 South African team beat the U16 Namibian squad 4-1. Finally, a senior South African team defeated the U16/U18 combination Namibian side 5-3. Many of the U10-U14 players had previously played for the Badgers Inline Club, while most of the U16/U18s were members of the Casadores Inline Club.
The Windhoek Lions Ice Sports Club also had the Augsburger Panther as a partner club. The German club donated a set of new jerseys to the Namibian team. Roland Kunz stated that six more clubs in Germany, as well as an Italian club from the Serie A, were considering partnerships with the Lions.[2]
It appears that the Windoek Lions' ice hockey activities later died out and that they are no longer an active club. The planned 1,800 seat ice rink in Windhoek also never came to fruition.
There is a small (not suitable for hockey) ice rink at the Grove Mall of Namibia in Windhoek.[3]
The national ice hockey team has yet to participate in an international event, but the national inline hockey team has participated in the IIHF InLine Hockey World Championships as recently as 2007.
Namibia left the IIHF on May 19, 2017, due to the lack of standard ice rinks and ice hockey activities in the country. They remained a member of World Skate (which governs inline hockey).
