Cricket in Namibia received a boost on Friday when Pupkewitz Motors stepped in as naming partner for the Pupkewitz Motors Sport Centre as well as the Pupkewitz Toyota Cricket Academy.
Both indoor facilities are run by former national cricketer Craig Williams who said they were very proud of the association.
“Its an extremely exciting day for us. We’ve been in operation for almost three years and we’ve always looked for a naming partner for our building and our academy so we are extremely proud to announce that Pupkewitz Motors have come on board, and with their sponsorship and input it will help us improve the facility,” he said.
“We’ve got about 100 kids who train here from the ages of five up to 18 years and we’ve also started giving women and girls free training for two hours per day, as part of Pupkewitz Motors’ corporate and social responsibility. Then we’ve got a corporate league running with 15 teams that are currently competing against each other, and that’s been a great success for us as well,” he added.
Williams originally launched the Craig Williams Cricket Academy in November 2020, but he said he nearly had to close down the facility after various setbacks like covid and financial challenges.
“Just when we thought we could no longer manage, along came the Pupkewitz Motors marketing team. Varushka (De la Harpe) and her team walked through the doors in December 2022 and asked what we are doing here. After explaining, she said she loved it and they wanted to assist,” he said.
“The naming rights for this building and the academy are very special to us. We have had approaches from various companies, however, the naming rights needed to go to a company that had the same vision, mission and values as us. Pupkewitz Motors are a household name, they are an extremely successful business who have a deep desire and passion to assist the community. We are so proud and privileged to have them as a partner,” he added.
Williams said their dream is to help develop young cricketers with the aim of representing Namibiain the future.
“Our dream is to help develop players for the Namibian national team. We can’t wait for the day when the first five-year-old who’s been at our academy for 15 years represents Namibia one day. We have got a couple of players who have represented Namibia at u19 level – they’ve just qualified for the u19 World Cup next year, so this academy of ours and this sport centre is a stepping stone for Namibian cricketers,” he said.
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