Windhoek Gymnasium in Gravity Cup finals

AFFIES Park was turned into a hive of activity over the weekend when it staged the Central Region qualifiers of the Namib Poultry Gravity Cup.

More than 800 boys and girls from 14 schools competed in the tournament, with the top three teams in each category qualifying for the finals which will be held in March next year.

Shawn Powell of the organisers, Gravity Sports Solutions said it was a big success.

Ït was a major success. In total, 176 matches were played from 13h00 on Friday till 19h00 on Saturday, in an extremely good atmosphere, while the Covid 19 protocols were handled very well.

“The top three teams in each category have now qualified for the finals on 12 and 13 March next year, where they will be joined by the qualifying teams from the western and northern regions,” he added.

The northern region qualifiers will be held in Tsumeb on 20 February and the western region qualifiers in Walvis Bay a week later.

The competition has shown a steady growth since its inception in 2018. Then, 13 schools participated in the inaugural event, while it expanded to 34 schools last year. So far this year, 14 schools have competed after only one of the three qualifying legs.

Schools competed in four sport codes in various age groups from u13 up to u18 category.

In rugby, Windhoek Gymnasium dominated the u19 category, winning all their matches to top the log on 19 points, scoring 139 points and conceding only 10.

They beat Academia Secondary School 64-0, Windhoek Afrikaanse Private School 31-10, Windhoek High School (WHS) A 15-0 and WHS B 29-0.

Windhoek High School's A and B teams will join Windhoek Gymnasium at the finals after finishing second and third on the log on 13 and nine points respectively.

For the first time in the history of the Gravity Cup a school girls rugby competition was also held, with the Okahandja Huskies clinching the title with ease.

They won all five their matches in convincing fashion, beating WHS A 24-0, WHS B 52-0, Ella du Plessis A 20-10, Ella du Plessis B 32-0 and Okahandja Huskies B 39-0.

They topped the log on 25 points and will be joined at the finals by Ella du Plessis' A and B teams who finished with 15 and 11 points respectively.

Windhoek Gymnasium also won the u17 and u15 rugby categories after winning all their matches.

They won the u17 category with 18 points, followed by WAP on 14 and WHS on 10, as well the u15 category with 14 points, followed by WHS (10) and Ella du Plessis (5).

Pionierspark Primary School won the u13 category with 20 points and will be joined at the finals by WAP (15) and Orban Primary School (6 points).

In netball, Windhoek Gymnasium reigned supreme, winning all four the age category competitions.

They won the u19 category with 29 points after winning all six their matches, with WAP finishing second on 20 points and Ella du Plessis third on 12 points.

Windhoek Gymnasium also won the u17 category with 30 points, followed by WHS (26) and Ella du Plessis (16); the u15 category with 25 points, followed by WHS A (20) and WAP (12); and the u13 category with 12 points, followed by Windhoek Gymnasium B (8) and WAP (4).

In hockey, Windhoek Gymnasium won both the boys and girls u14 titles, finishing ahead of Pionierspark Primary School and WAP in both categories.

WAP won the u18 boys hockey title on 14 points, followed by Windhoek Gymnasium (9) and WHS (5), while WHS won the u18 girls hockey title with 18 points, followed by WAP (14) and Windhoek Gymnasium (10).

In soccer, Academia Secondary School won the u17 category with 19 points, followed by Okahandja School Sport (17) and WHS (17), while Windhoek Gymnasium won the u15 category with 12 points, followed by DHPS (7) and Academia Secondary School (5).