58,560

Sometimes, a single number tells an entire story

That’s how many Namibian children, boys and girls from all 14 regions, played cricket last year through the Ashburton Kwata Mini-Cricket Program. That number is more than impressive. It’s transformative.

This grassroots initiative, led by Cricket Namibia and powered by a long-standing partnership with Ashburton Investments, has just been recognised for the second time as the ICC Development Program of the Year. A global honour. For a proudly Namibian effort.

But beyond the trophy and the applause is something deeper. A quiet revolution that’s been unfolding, ball by ball, in schoolyards, village fields, and dusty townships. Cricket is being reimagined here, not as an elite sport, but as a common language. A unifier. A launchpad.

What makes the Kwata program special isn’t just the scale, though surpassing the combined participation numbers of all other African countries is no small feat. It’s the continuity. The commitment to structure, not just spectacle. These kids aren’t handed a bat once a year for a photo op. They’re playing. Regularly. Learning. Sweating. Competing. Belonging.

It has been integrated into physical education periods in public schools across the country, embedding itself not as an extracurricular, but as

a right. An expectation. A way to move, to grow, to dream.

And here’s the thing: it’s not just about cricket.

It’s about a child in a remote village feeling the thrill of their first wicket. A young girl in a township realising she can swing a bat just as hard as any boy. A group of friends learning discipline, teamwork, resilience, through play.

It’s about nation-building in miniature.

I find it deeply moving that a programme born of such humble beginnings now sets the standard for the entire continent. It reminds me that real impact doesn’t always roar. Sometimes, it begins with a soft “thwack” of tennis ball against plastic bat, echoing across a schoolyard.

So to the teachers, the coordinators, the volunteers, and the kids themselves, this award is yours. And to Cricket Namibia, thank you for proving that sport done right can be a tool for equality, education, and excellence.

The scoreboard may reflect boundaries and wickets. But the true wins here are measured in smiles, selfbelief, and the widening horizons of 58,560 young Namibians who now know they belong on the pitch and in the future of our country.

Elzanne McCulloch