Matthew hailed for Desert Queens funding lifeline
The Namibia Volleyball Federation (NVF) has expressed gratitude to Albertina Matthew for her role in helping secure funding that enabled the women’s national team to compete in the Olympic Games Qualifiers amid funding challenges.
Matthew is a beach volleyball player and member of the national team who has previously received support from the Namibia Beach Volleyball Hub to represent the country at the Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) Zone Six Beach Volleyball Tour.
Her affiliation with the beach volleyball community led to her helping secure funding for the women’s national team, known as the Desert Queens, from KL Construction, an entity run by a beach volleyball family.
The support came at a crucial time for the Desert Queens, whose Olympic Solidarity Programme grant is still pending, while the men’s national team, known as the Desert Warriors, has already received support to compete at the same event.
Ahead of their participation at the CAVB Zone Six Senior Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Qualifiers in Zimbabwe, the Desert Warriors received a grant of N$814 613 from the programme to support their Olympic push from 2026 to 2028.
Of that amount, N$276 968 was made available for this year under the facilitation of the Namibia National Olympic Committee (NNOC), with the support extended to the Olympic Qualifiers, which began yesterday in Harare and will run until Saturday.
Women’s grant pending
The NVF, through president Tobias Mwatelulo, confirmed that the women’s team’s grant from the Olympic Solidarity Programme had not yet been approved when the team left for the qualifiers on Sunday evening.
However, they have secured sponsorship from KL Construction, the Olympic committee, Momentum Metropolitan Namibia, Namib Diaries and Cospharm Namibia, with the sports ministry and Namibia Sports Commission providing transportation.
Speaking at the team’s send-off, Mwatelulo expressed gratitude for the support extended to both teams and asked those present to applaud Matthew in absentia for her role in securing sponsorship for the women’s national team.
“KL Construction’s sponsorship, which I am told came through [Matthew’s efforts], means the ladies’ team have food to eat now. I was very dissatisfied that the team was travelling without food,” he remarked.
Mwatelulo added that the team also lacked enough funding for accommodation, which is why arrangements were made for them to travel and arrive only a day before the competition and leave immediately after the final to cut costs.
“We did not even have national colours. The support [for tracksuits, training attire and other kit] means we will now look like a team from Namibia. We’re very grateful for that,” he said.
Mwatelulo also expressed confidence that the women’s team’s grant will be approved and urged the players to be patient for their chance.
Realising Olympic dream
Also speaking at the occasion, NNOC chief executive officer Anri Parker assured athletes on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic pathway that the committee will continue to support them in their qualification efforts.
“Our office is here to work for athletes. It’s been a privilege and joy to journey with this federation. We have big hopes for volleyball. We will continue to find opportunities to make [your dream to qualify for the Olympics] a reality,” she assured.
Namibia Sports Commission spokesperson Givean Samulandela urged the Desert Queens and Desert Warriors to embody the meaning behind their respective names.
“These names must give you hunger to fight for what you stand for. When you go there [to mark our first volleyball national team outing in nearly 20 years], know that you’re representing us all and carry with you our hopes and dreams,” he noted.
The national volleyball head coach, Joel Matheus, said the teams had spent weeks preparing for the tournament, but not to the best of their abilities due to limited resources.
“Our players were unable to stay in a centralised camp and instead had to train from home, which caused numerous delays,” he noted.
The financial strain around the tournament has been felt across the zone, with six of the ten countries initially expected to participate withdrawing due to funding constraints. Only Namibia, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe will now compete across both divisions.
Fixtures
In the women’s fixtures, Namibia were set to face Zimbabwe yesterday at 13:00 and Zambia today at 13:00, before their final round-robin encounter against Malawi tomorrow at 13:00.
The men were drawn against Malawi yesterday at 15:00, Zambia today at 17:00 and Zimbabwe tomorrow at 15:00.
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