Massive trust in female administrator

...Kasaona to lead Rhino Youth Cup Champions League

Esther Puccy Lockhart Kasaona is set to step into the limelight of Namibian football after getting the position of league administrator of the Rhino Youth Cup Champions League in the Sesfontein constituency of the Kunene region.

The competition is huge as it features 16 conservancy teams, with the action run at a cost of 10 elephants per season. (According to animalshq, an elephant can be sold from around US$13 500, that translates roughly into N$230 000, at the current exchange rate.)

The Rhino League, which is played in several privileged countries across the globe, is an effort to continue conservation around human-animal conflict.

Kasaona was appointed at the Rhino Youth Cup Champions League as an administrator from April 2021 to 2024 after impressing the board of trustees of the Rhino Trust.

She is quite well-known in the area where the competition will be held, as she was born in Sesfontein and has participated in national games when she represented the Kunene women's football team in 1999 in Walvis Bay.

"Without discipline, it's hard to be consistent in your actions to fulfil your ambition to one day become a top administrator in the sport industry."

Early retirement

While she had to retire from football at the age of 20 as a result of the demands of her professional career in teaching, Kasaona was never far from the 'Beautiful Game'.

She honed her administrative skills by being part of the executive committee of Unknown FC [2013-15], while in her free time she read books on sport administration and youth development.

As far back as 2003, Kasaona attended a leadership training programme, which opened her door to top level management.

In subsequent years, she would continue learning about football administration and in May 2021, she joined other local football administrators from different leagues in Namibia for the Namibia Football Association (NFA) sport and administration course held in Windhoek.

She also participated in various forms of training to sharpen her knowledge on youth development, particularly the National Youth Sport Development Platform course 'Unlocking Adolescents' Potential through Sport.'

Thankful

Kasaona is extremely thankful for the opportunity granted to her.

"I want to thank the board for buying into the plan, my vision and for being supportive of it," she said. "It's a lot easier when you can go to your owner and talk to them about what you're going to be doing for the youth of the conservancies; how you're going to be improving the league.

"So, I tabled my plan to the board… in terms of how we we're thinking about it, then we sat down and looked at our plans for the newly-established league."

She also credits the women's football committee for instilling in her discipline and consistency, which go hand in hand.

"Without discipline, it's hard to be consistent in your actions to fulfil your ambition to one day become a top administrator in the sports industry," Kasaona reflected.

The official breakdown of the 16 teams per conservancy is as follows:

Anabib conservancy

1. Chameleon FC

2. ANT Bears FC

3. Ondese FC

Sesfontein conservancy

4. Rhino FC

5. Oryx FC

6. Cheetah FC

Torra conservancy

7. Springbok FC

8. Kudu FC

Puros conservancy

9. Jaguar FC

10. Desert Warriors FC

Omatendeka conservancy

11. Lion FC

12. Zebra FC

13. Elephant FC

Ehirovipuka conservancy

14. Farmers FC

15. Wildlife FC

16. Forestry FC