Coastal fun in inline hockey league 0 The annual Coastal Pirates Tournament of the NIIHA (Namibian Ice and Inline Hockey Association) league was held on the weekend of 23-25 September. Matches ran almost continuously all day from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon, with early morning starts and matches played until midnight.
This was one of the six national league tournaments and was attended by teams in all the age divisions from the five clubs in Namibia.
Competition was tough, with only one more tournament to go to determine the top four teams in each age division eligible to compete in the NIIHA championships to be held in Windhoek at the end of November.
For the first time ever, 106 games were played in one weekend, including some internal club matches played during the week.
The Coastal Pirates accounted for 60 of the games played with 17 teams, more than any other club.
Their team made good use of their home advantage as they took top honours after winning all their games to remain undefeated for the weekend.
The Under-8A team had their best tournament all year having built up skill as well as confidence while the Under-10A edged Cazadores to take sole possession of the top spot.
There were similar successes for the Coastal Pirates’ second Under-12 team in the A-league as they won two of their three inter-club games, which included a convincing win over Kamikaze’s A team in the last match of the tournament. They achieved this despite only having four players available.
The Coastal Pirates Under-14A team continued to shine and remain unbeaten all season.
They have conceded only one goal in the five tournaments so far.
The Coastal Pirates Open team continued to dominate, while the rest of the Open division showed mixed results, with two games ending in a draw.
Skills Competitions for the different divisions drew the country''s best players to showcase their skill level and compete for the honour of top scorer and top goalie.
The next NIIHA league tournament will take place on 4-6 November at the Coastal Pirates court in The Dome, Swakopmund Indoor Sport Centre.
VIKKI DE JAGER