Forgotten lethal net rattler Tataati ‘Ace’ Komeya
FORMER Tigers Football Club attacker Tataati ‘Ace’ Komeya announced his arrival on the big stage with a flurry of breathtaking goals that cemented his position as the main targetman for the youthful Ingwe outfit.
The fast-as-lightning bowlegged forward was a mean goalmachine who mesmerised robust defenders with sheer skill, speed and cleverly executed darting runs.
He was the kind of player who could score goals from nowhere and when least expected.
Having been recruited to succeed club legend Frans ‘Foresta’ Nicodemus, it was not going to be a walk in the park stepping into the big shoes of the freescoring, slippery attacker. Tellingly, Komeya was not to be distracted by the high standards set by the great Nicodemus and went about his business unhindered, scoring goals as if the art of goalscoring was going out of fashion.
He confirmed himself as a vital cog in the Tigers’ frontline, and was the leading goalscorer for the
Donkerhoek outfit during his tenure at the blue and white strip outfit.
After numerous failed attempts to track down the slippery attacker, New Era Sport finally cornered the retired Ingwe targetman, as he happily relives his amazing football journey that took him to the lower tier Oberliga in Deutschland (Germany) in full detail.
BORN Tataati Ace Komeya on 8 April 1974 in Ongongo, Komeya started his elementary education at the village’s combined school, but it was not until he found himself in the mining town of Arandis that he developed interest in chasing an inflated round piece of pigskin while a small boy at the Kolin Foundation learning institution.
Komeya started showing glimpses of greatness, and it was not long before he was thrown into the deep end.
At a fairly young age, he was drafted into the first team of the mining town’s leading team Kaizer Chiefs Football Club.
However, his romance with the gold and
black strip outfit was cut abruptly when his parents relocated to their original home, only for Komeya to resurface in Oshikuku. He continued his schooling at the revered Nuuyoma Senior Secondary School in 1990.
By this time, already an established footie, Komeya was not short of suitors, and was recruited by local giants Young Chiefs to lead their frontline.
A bird of passage, his next stop was Oranjemund at the tail-end of the Atlantic Ocean in the diamond-rich southern mining town.
The free-scoring attacker joined local giants Lecoq Football Club, playing alongside former Brave Warriors and Motherwell (Scotland) flying winger and another top footie Josephat Nghenny ‘Omtot’ Emvula
who persuaded him to join Kuisebmund outfit Eleven Arrows Football Club, and as they say, the rest is history.
Regrettably, game time was very hard to come by, and the player spent a significant chunk of his time with Arrows warming the bench for almost the entire season.
“Eish, it was disheartening not playing, just watching my teammates strut their stuff on the pitch. Luckily as fate would dictate, an enthusiastic Tigers supporter who happened to work at Oranjemund asked me to try my luck at Tigers.
“Even though I was duly registered with Arrows, I never played a single match for the coastal side as I was mostly confined to warming the substitutes’ bench,” recalls Komeya with bitterness in his soft voice.
Komeya made his debut for his new team Ingwe as a second half-substitute. The new kid on the block needed no second invitation.
He gladly grabbed the rare opportunity with both hands, and managed to register an assist as Ingwe claimed a hard-fought victory.
As it turned out, there was no looking back from there on and despite living faraway in the mining town of Oranjemund, his name was always first on the team sheet as he went on to establish himself as the main striker for the emerging youthful Ingwe side.
“I really enjoyed my time with Tigers, even though I was unable to train with my teammates. I was very committed and trained alone in the dunes to keep fit,” he said.
Komeya also had a successful one-season stint in Deutschland (Germany) with lowertier Oberliga (5th division) Hamburg-based outfit TusHolstein Quickborn between 2001 and 2002 before returning to his native Land of the Brave.
As it stands, he boasts an impressive resume that includes being appointed assistant coach for the Brave Gladiators,
deputising head coach Jacqui Shipanga.
He was also second-in-charge at his former club Tigers under the wing of former Brave Warriors inspirational skipper and Ramblers Football Club centre-back, Frederick ‘Tollie’ van Wyk.
He also held the portfolio of head coach at former Premiership campaigners Young Chiefs Football Club, and currently headlines the coaching department at Unam Ongongo. Certainly no mean feat for the retired netbuster.
The much-adored former lethal goalpoacher was a valuable technical staff member of the victorious Omusati Regional Youth Team that won the Namibian Newspaper Cup in the Cattle Country (Gobabis) a fortnight ago to crown an otherwise smooth-sailing, spotless sporting career.