Imbuwa candidly discusses all things volleyball

Since your re-election as Namibia Volleyball Federation (NVF) president in 2020, you have been quite busy on many fronts. How would you describe your time in office since taking over, especially the achievements and challenges faced?

My term in office as president has been exciting and challenging at the same time. Exciting in the sense that volleyball has become a lifestyle, whereas passion used to drive what I do. My experience in management and leadership on a professional level has also assisted me in outlining the federation’s vision and strategic plan. Though we continue to experience common challenges as a federation, I have tried my level best to build a winning team of volunteers as an executive and board responsible to do the day-to-day running of the federation at both regional and national levels. We also continue to implement our key strategic deliverables. I must say, though not an easy task, we are now on the right track as a federation.

Last year, you were appointed to serve on the marketing commission for the Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB). How has the experience been so far?

My appointment to the CAVB marketing commission is a great opportunity for Namibian volleyball as a whole and though still at the start of delivering my duties as commissioner, it’s a great experience considering that we as NVF now have the opportunity to contribute and learn from the best on the continent in terms of promoting the game of volleyball. I am assured that by the end of my term on the commission, I would have benefited in terms of a better marketing strategy for our local volleyball and sport in general.

Being part of the CAVB marketing commission, what are some of the key lessons you think are worth sharing and implementing locally?

As a CAVB marketing commissioner, there are good lessons or trends, which one will definitely be able to emulate and benefit the local federation, such as:

- Engaging key stakeholders, while at the same time attracting new ones on board

- The delivery of a successful volleyball event, such as a regional or continental championships - The sourcing of sponsorships and creating a conducive environment for sponsors to operate on as key partners - Writing sponsorship proposals and delivering a marketing strategy as a national federation

Namibian volleyball has for the past years not been much active on the international stage, especially participating in major continental and global events. What do you think are some of the hiccups in that regard?

The major hiccup is funding. With the government not able to have a budget for different sport codes in the country, the selection process of players and all involved in maintaining a team with its technical support staff becomes a big challenge. The non-professionalisation of sports in the country is another challenge, and that makes it difficult to attract talent and qualified personnel who are able to spearhead national sports projects. At the moment, all sports administrators at most sport codes are volunteers who have to juggle between their professional careers and the parttime administration of sport. The same applies to any national team player, who will rather choose to be engaged with their professional career than committing to a national team.

Although the country boasts a very strong and active league structure, specifically the Bank Windhoek-sponsored leagues, volleyball has still not reached all corners of the country and features quite poorly at the school level. What do you think needs to be done to popularise volleyball amongst all Namibians?

At the moment, the game of volleyball is becoming popular day by day, thanks to individuals who continue to volunteer their time in carrying out development in different parts of the country. School volleyball is key in terms of development and together with the National Schools Sports Union (NSSU), our aim is to find more volunteers who are able to accelerate grassroots development.

As a federation, our key role is to create a much more conducive environment by growing the capacity for individuals, academies and clubs to voluntarily carry out development. Though a conducive environment has been created, the lack of funding and material remains a stumbling block to reach maximum success.

What are some of the grassroots development programmes the NVF is currently rolling out? Moreover, how would you describe the development of the sport at grassroots level?

With our new strategic plan, grassroots development is key and hence we are busy rolling out our development programme to the regions with the support of individual volleyball players who have become our volunteer development partners in the Omaheke, Hardap, Omusati, Kavango East, Zambezi, Oshana and Kunene. We are busy engaging NSSU to see how we can still encourage more teachers, who were in the past trained as development coaches by the NVF, to assist with more development at school level.

Plans were afoot for the NVF to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Moroccan Volleyball Federation. What are some of the envisaged benefits that can be expected from this MoU?

As we speak, this MoU is yet to be signed due to other reasons beyond our control. But in a nutshell, the MoU will be beneficial to us as a smaller federation in terms of capacity. Namibia would have an opportunity to send coaches, administrators and national teams to Morocco for further enhancement and technical growth.

You have been on record speaking passionately about the need to professionalise volleyball in the country. How is the NVF doing on that front?

Behind the scene, NVF has been successful in making sure we improve our governance structures by improving our key policies, which are vital in becoming a professional sports code and in line with the NSC as well as the sport ministry’s strategies.

From a growth standpoint, what is your take on the current state and growth trajectory of Namibian volleyball across all spheres?

Namibian volleyball keeps raising the bar every season as we continue to observe at least a steady growth over the past four years. Though the progress is slow, with the right support and mindset, volleyball in this country is headed for the top in the next five to 10 years.

With the 2022 volleyball season set to kick off this month, any exciting news to share with the local clubs and supporters?

We are grateful and excited that at least we still have our key partner Bank Windhoek as the main sponsor of our major events, such as the Doc tournament and the NVF Cup. These two events will remain the highlights of our 2022 volleyball calendar, which every volleyball player and spectators should look out for.

We have also planned to implement our national development team project, where we expect a FIVB expert to be in the country before the end of this year to come assist in preparing some youngsters who will be selected to form part of this project.

You are welcome, the pleasure was all mine.