May I first take the opportunity to welcome you all to the NFA website a first in the history of our game and one aspect of our operations I am really proud of.  I am proud of this website because it will resolve one important challenge faced by all organizations of our size, that of passing information timeously. I want to encourage the family of football to frequent this site as much as possible to tap into the information they need and to air their opinions on the running of their game.

Having said that I am of the opinion that just as we move past the half-year mark of what, in my opinion, is a watermark year for our game we need to sit back and evaluate the progress made on a few of the goals we set ourselves at the start of our journey so as to ensure that we do not lose focus of the set objectives.  Equally important is the identification of challenges we have faced along the way and that might have hampered the speed of the implementation and execution of the whole process.

During my term as Acting President of our Association and before the recent election the Executive Committee compiled a list of prioritized activities which we, in our opinion, needed to work towards accomplishing to give real impetus to the growth of our game. That list remains as relevant today as it was at the time and work has been going on to reach or surpass the set objectives.

One important objective we aimed to accomplish was ensuring a significant improvement in the performance of the Brave Warriors. We needed to break out of the traditional comfort zones we have grown used to and move from doing a good job and onto excellence. At the time I warned that all will not be smooth as we will come across some resistance as result of the necessary changes. We have encountered that expected resistance but I am sure that we have also dealt with that in the best possible manner we could.  Overall I am happy with the progress we are making but know quite well that we have a long and hard way to travel before we can count ourselves amongst the football powerhouses of the continent and the world.  The appointment of the coach was an important requirement for this objective to become a reality. I do not need to tell you much about the person we have appointed as I know that you will agree with me that NFA, together with the other stakeholders who assisted and continue to do so,  have done an excellent piece of business in that regard.  

We also needed to change the way the team is run to ensure that it will receive the right amount of support and hence the appointment of Tim Isaacs to the position of Team Manager.  The whole setup has become stronger and the players are responding positively to the changes being implemented. That auger well for the team and our game in general.  

May I now take this opportunity to remind you of the complete list of prioritized activities of the Executive Committee:

• Release of the 2006/07 Season Calendar in good time.
• Smooth finalization of the 2006/07 season.
• Streamline the administration of the Association to be able to face the Challenges posed by the new football environment.
• Better the sponsorship allocation to the Second and First Divisions.
• Seek sponsorship that will enable NFA to keep and maintain the Regional Coordinators.
• Ranking of referees according to their level of performance.
• Through legislation and the provision of the best learning opportunities provide the best possible coaching to all our clubs.
• Finalize the new NFA Disciplinary Code, League Competition Rules and the Regulations for the Transfer of Players.
• Maintain a smaller more economic and effective Organizing Committee.
• Introducing the Regional Chairpersons as Match-commissioners to cut unnecessary cost of travel, accommodation and meals.
• Maintaining the just introduced Continuing Football Education Program.
• In conjunction with the international mother bodies avail education to our people.
• In conjunction with the Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture, who is our main beneficiary at this level, built a competitive Brave Warriors and ensure better FIFA Ranking and qualification for CAN 2008.
• Work towards the qualification of the Brave Warriors for the CAN 2010 and the FIFA World Cup 2010.
• The Brave Warriors as a brand name.
• In conjunction with FIFA complete Goal Project 11 and Goal Africa.
• Kick-start structured domestic women football.
• Kick-start structured domestic reserve/junior league football.         

You will agree with me that we have done quiet well in honoring our commitment to do something about these aspects of our game and in that way ensure that football starts to occupy its rightful place as Namibia’s number one physical and leisure activity. Namibian youth, men and women alike, should play football and the game should once again become the number one past-time activity for the overwhelming majority of our people.

We realize that we are well on our way to accomplishing these objectives, but we what we realize even more is the truth that a lot remains to be done. We also realize that we need the support of all our stakeholders to stand a chance to achieve what we aim to. As I do not have the space to deal with the progress made in each of the above mentioned areas I will spend more space explaining just that in a series of follow-up articles. That is to allow you an inside in what the NFA in up to and to take everybody along as we move forward.  

We must thank the Government of the Republic of Namibia, in particular the Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture and our valued sponsors in the Namibia Football Consortium for their unwavering support to our game.  We also continue to receive excellent assistance from the Namibia Sport Commission. Without them we will have found it very difficult to honour our commitments.

Thank you, may God Bless.