WINDHOEK: Close to 1 000 athletes from five African countries will arrive in Windhoek at the end of this month for the Confederation of School Sport Associations of Southern Africa (COSSASA) Ball Games.

The Games will take place from 30 August to 01 September 2012.

The Namibia Schools Sport Union (NSSU), which celebrates its 21st anniversary this year, will host the Games in conjunction with the Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture.

This will be the third time the NSSU hosts the annual COSSASA Ball Games.

Swaziland hosted the last Ball Games in 2009.

The participating countries are Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Speaking at the launch of the COSSASA Ball Games here on Tuesday, NSSU Secretary-General Hilbertine Mbasuva said the event is meant for primary school and secondary school pupils and has been divided into two categories – Under-13 and Under-17.

“The 21st anniversary will also be celebrated by the hosting of the Miss NSSU pageant, which will run concurrently with the Ball Games,” the NSSU SG said.

The participating codes include U-17 basketball for boys and girls; U-13 cricket for boys and girls; U-13 and U-17 football for boys and girls; U-13 and U-17 netball for girls; and U-13 and U-17 volleyball for boys and girls.

Meanwhile, the competition got a major boost during the same event when it received sponsorships of N.dollars 128 000 from the Coca Cola Namibia Bottling Company; Consolidated Sugar; Xco Sport; First National Bank of Namibia (FNB) and Bank Windhoek.

Bank Windhoek Communications Practitioner Nora Ndopu stated at the event that Bank Windhoek believes in the importance of sport for young people.

“We all know the benefits that sport brings to the lives of the young ones, such as a good academic performance,” she said.

The venues for the ball games are the Independence Stadium, Israel Patrick Iyambo Police College and the University of Namibia (UNAM)’s main campus.