Windhoek — Deputy Minister of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture, Pohamba Shifeta, yesterday showered his blessings upon a delegation of 165 athletes that will represent Namibia in various sports codes at the Zone-6 U/20 Youth Games, which kicks off this Friday in Lusaka, Zambia.

In his short motivational speech, Shifeta urged the young athletes to always aim high and strive to do their country proud, emphasizing that the 165 athletes representing Namibia in eight different sports disciplines, which include football (boys & girls), basketball, tennis, boxing, netball, swimming and athletics for visually impaired athletes, should at all times work together as a team and always abide by the rules and regulations of the games, while patriotically flying their country's flag high.

He also warned athletes to stay away from activities that will tarnish Namibia's image, and should rather strive to bring gold and silver medals back home.

Permanent Secretary in the sports ministry, Steve Katjiuanjo, also joined the chorus with Shifeta and said: "Frank Fredericks already proved to the world what Namibia is capable of and again Johanna Benson not long ago also proved to the world that Namibia is a gold winning nation, so I don't see any reason why you should come back home empty-handed. You have all prepared very hard and I'm confident that you will all bring some gold and silver medals back home," said Katjiuanjo.