NamibiaSport

By Chris Buckland

Thirty minutes on a squash court supposedly burns 1000 calories and can leave you struggling to walk for days. It is a game of physical and mental stamina. Compared, at its highest level, to chess it can exhaust and challenge the sharpest minds and fittest physiques.



Tyc Kakehongo

Conversely, Noel Coward described it as “flagellation” rather than exercise whilst John Hopkins describes it as “ quicker than cricket, drier than swimming and safer than hang gliding”. In my head I am Kasperov on the court, but in reality, the new shades of red discovered in my face and the body weight I sweat after about 10 minutes speaks volumes about the game.

Having recently moved from Walvis Bay where he was in charge of squash development for the Namibian Squash Association, Tyc Kakehongo, (Namibian number two), spends approximately 8 hours a day coaching in the “Dunlop triangle” of Wanderers, Klein Windhoek Squash Club and Virgin Active. I spent a few hours with him talking squash while he was coaching a group of youngsters at Klein Windhoek and then, at Wanderers while he was running the trials for the Under 19 Namibian squad to travel to Bloemfontein to take part in the South African Schools Squash festival.

After coaching for two hours at Wanderers, and Virgin Active, it is now 3 pm and Tyc is almost half way through his day. “There are only 4 today, but normally they are 18”, he apologises as soon as I arrive at the pristine KW courts in Eros. But hearing the laughter and the shouting exploding from the court I am a little relieved, as I am not sure my ears could take much more! Tyc’s soft, deep voice cuts through the chatter of the kids aged 8 as he demonstrates and drills them on their back hands…before sending them off on a run up and down some stairs to “spend a little energy”.

“When I was in Walvis bay, I had about 80 kids aged 8 – 19 and here in Windhoek I’ve already got about 18. By June I think I will have 100” he told me. “There is more potential here because there are more schools and more interest”

“But these guys are keen” he adds with a smile as they return apparently energised for more. “I started playing squash at school in Oranjemund when I was 12. Back then the only sports on offer were soccer, soccer, soccer and soccer!” “But,” he continues, “it is a great game, it builds character and teaches you self-discipline and how to look after your body, and it is addictive and fun. Everyone should try it!”

With slight disdain, he smirks as I ask him about the lack of squash at the Olympics,
“I’m surprised it’s not an Olympic sport already! How can you have archery and synchronised swimming but not squash?”

But his role as coach working with the NSA is not just restricted to developing keen talent on court. He has the enormous task of developing the game outside of the traditional Namibian centres of Windhoek and Walvis Bay.

“There are courts all over the country, in Ovamboland and Rundu for example, but the game here needs a better structure,” he adds, but a lot of the time they are not being used. “ I remember when I was at school in ….I played a couple of times, but it wasn’t until I came here (to Windhoek) to high school that I could play regularly. “Wherever there are squash courts, there should be games going on” he stressed, underlining the importance of his challenge to “ give coaching to and help develop potential coaches and teachers all over the country”

Perhaps a greater challenge he faces, however, is the perception of the game being a “white” sport.

“One of my major goals is to try to have the sport reflect the true nature of Namibia today. It is still predominantly an elitist sport”. This in spite of five of the recently named “Namibian Top 16” being non-white and being a strong element of the national squash playing hierarchy.

His passion rising, he added, “we need government sponsorship, which is missing at the moment; I want to involve kids from previously disadvantaged backgrounds to play. There should be courts in Katatura…we need companies with long term vision to invest and sponsor to make this a National game.”

At 5 pm, after dropping off his charges following the lesson, “running the taxi service”, I met up with Tyc at the Wanderers Club where he was drawing up the schedule for the Namibian trials for the boys under 19 team for the South African Schools. With all this teaching, has he hung up his competitive racket and become a poacher turned gamekeeper.

The Namibian number two changed his tone slightly and looked like I’d just insulted his mother, grandmother, and grandmother’s mother when asked about coaching rather than playing competitively. “Not at all. I’m trying to find a balance…to keep the motivation and the drive I need to keep playing and try to combine this with the coaching”

He added boldly, “I’m 30 now and I want to play at the highest level here until I'm 40 or older... There’s a guy at the coast Jaco (De Witt) and he’s 50 something and still beats everyone he plays. If I stay fit this will be possible too. The only problem is the time at the moment; I’ve only trained once this year myself…I’ve done gym work, but I need to get on the court myself.”

Tyc mentioned injuries and overusing his right arm a few weeks back and I jokingly told him he should play left handed against weaker players. We both laughed until I had a lesson with him and half way through I noticed he was playing left handed…

It is now 6:30 and some of the trialists have started to arrive. Some are nervous and seem mesmerized by their laces. Others puff out their chests and begin the psychological warfare. All fall into a respectful hush when Tyc calls them together and explains the procedure for the trial. “Not all of you will be selected, but don’t be disheartened, everyone should take this as an opportunity to improve and learn about their own game” he tells them before starting the 9 boys off on a round-robin tournament that will, by the end of the night see 4 selected and 5 asked to go home.

Before the boys arrived he told me of the importance of the South African Schools festival, to be held in Bloemfontein from April 30 – May 3rd. “I played in this tournament myself when I was 12 and have been involved in running it and managing the teams for 10 years now.”

Tyc brims with enthusiasm when he describes to me the importance of this event for junior squash and the under 13,14,15, 16 & 19 girls and boys teams he will be taking with him this year. “It is a major goal for the juniors to represent their country, and the only chance they have at the moment…it is a real opportunity to experience playing other people from other countries and find out more about your own standard…and hopefully once they go, they want to continue.”

What is most revealing is what he doesn’t say and this maybe reflects his impact and hard work previously at the coast. The under 19 boys team is the only team that will have players from Windhoek. Every other age group is from Walvis Bay. Things are definitely going to change here in Windhoek.

Whilst the trialists speed around the court like wasps in a small bottle, Tyc tells me to watch out for top players like: Andrew Forrest, Danie Greeff, and Amy Van Der Bikj. Who are the future of squash in this country.

It is now 7 and I can see Tyc’s patience with me wearing a little thin. I ask him when will we see a Namibina world champion. He grins ruefully and sighs at the enormity of this task, which starts at grass root level with him. “We can produce players to a certain level, but there isn’t the infrastructure in this country to take them further at the moment…to be among the top players in the world you need to have experience of playing abroad, and really testing yourself. We need to try and produce people like Marco Becker who is playing in the Bundasleague in Germany.”

He adds that “Someone like Jade Pepler who won a scholarship through his squash to a top South African school and now plays for the SA Under 16 team” is a start and shows perhaps the way to go, but really his goal is to get as many people playing as possible.

With more people playing there is more chance of unearthing talent. “Not everyone can excel at mainstream sports but it is important that (everyone) has exposure to as many different sports as possible. Hopefully with what I am trying to do here and with the sponsorship from interested companies, we can change all that, and one day who can say!”

Whilst I slunk away, guilty to enjoy a Friday night beer, Tyc settled down to watch and select. I did ask him what his plans were for the weekend, and he smiled and gave me a one-word answer, “sleep”.

• Under 19 Team selected for the Bloemfontein tour: Andrew Forrest, Jason Forrest, Clifton Dawids, & Jan Wijgergangs

• Watch this space for more news about the Namibian squad’s preparations and how they get on in SA!

• Namibian Top 16 Squash event: March 13-15th