Ndeilenge wants coaching coursesTop guides want to see more joining them Having chosen to be a guide may seem to be an easy task but the country''s top four Paralympic guides say it is not easy. The four Paralympic guides in the country want to see the team bring more medals from the 2020 Paralympic Games, but indicated that there is a need for more guides.Speaking to Sport Wrap on the sidelines of Disability Sport Namibia''s recognition event last week Thursday, guide Andre Oberholster said running on his own is easier than being a guide but having built a brother relationship with someone excites him.
“Running on your own is easy because with being a guide there is always somebody to run with, somebody faster, new techniques and everything new but what keeps you motivated is you are not only in the race yourself, you gain a brother, a second limb, a person next to you that you can run with and that is also great to have a relationship with someone like that with so much trust,” he said.
He added that “in the world of today you need a friend like that whom you can trust, sweat with, bleed with, cry with, so it is just so fun because a lot of people only see it as a partnership on the track but it is a big partnership off the track as you share a room, go to the dining hall together and make sure he gets his proper meal.”
Oberholster, who is Moses Tobias''s guide, said despite having to do a lot of things together they still have to separate their personalities , “because it is two different people coming together and creating magic on the track and a lot of people just see us running together but they do not see the personal investment involved in sacrificing your personal stuff like Moses and I do not have the same taste in music but exciting enough is we are all Liverpool fans so we can watch football together so we don''t fight when it comes to sports so it is a special bond.”
Junior Sportswoman of the Year with Disability Lahja Ishitile''s guide David Ndeilenga mentioned that it “feels so special knowing that I am helping someone who is in need, because it is not easy working with people with disability especially the T11 because at times you are telling them let us walk this way for example they will argue.”
Ndeilenga said being a guide for some time now excites him because it also requires hard work.
“You don''t just wake up and then you are a guide, you have to build a bond with the person that you are going to guide and that affection of saying we are brothers or sisters, that is how it should work and also build that coordination on the track,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Ndeilenga feels that guides in the country are not recognised like in other countries and would like to see the trend changed.
“In most countries they are recognised either as coaches or officials but it is not like that in Namibia and I want people to be looking at an athlete and a guide as a pair.
“For now I wish that our team could introduce even a coaching course or something for guides and call people who are interested because we really need a lot of guides as we have a lot of T11 who wish to have guides like us and wish to take the world in any competition,” he said, adding that there should also be something to motivate those upcoming guides.
Ananias Shikongo''s guide, Even Tjiviju, said he wants to see them rewarded equally with the athletes.
“I am always motivated when we run and win a medal because we all get, like now in Rio we all got our gold medals so that keeps me motivated as well and that is want I hope to see back home,” he said.
He indicated that the guide is the eyes of the athlete, “so I think people need to start recognising both the athlete and the guide like they did in Rio, so what they give him they must also give me because without me Ananias won''t be able to run like that, I am his eyes.”
The 400m guide Sam Shimanda shared the same sentiments, stating that as they prepare for the next Paralympic Games, there is a need to have more guides.
“We need at least two three more guides so that we just know that this guide runs with this athlete in this event and not have one guide running all the events which at times becomes hard for us now,” he said.
He wants the team to start training as soon as they can, mentioning that proper training will also serve as great preparation to bring back more medals from the next games.
KAINO NGHITONGO