It is indeed a great honor and tremendous privilege for me to deliver this speech here tonight on this great occasion marking Ramblers sixtieth anniversary of serving sport in Namibia.

During 1945 a group of young gentlemen, who worked for Standard Bank and who did not want to play rugby, formed Ramblers Football Club and played their first game in Okahandja that year.

The coat of arms with the simple word "Aequitas" as motto was adopted soon thereafter. "Aequitas" means fair play and this should always be borne in mind when representing Ramblers on the sports fields or elsewhere. In 1949 the mens hockey section came into being while the ladies hockey section was formed in 1967. During the years Ramblers had other sections and participated in various sports codes such as softball, cricket, water polo, swimming and volleyball. These sports codes are no longer in existence at Ramblers, but in the eighties field archery joined Ramblers while the Bassmasters anglers joined at the end of the nineties. The latest sports code to have joined Ramblers was the Striders at the beginning of 2003.

On the sports field Ramblers has always been a force to be reckoned with. The club has probably won more championship titles and trophies in any particular sport it participated in than any other club in Namibia and it has probably contributed more players to the relevant national sides over the years than any other club in Namibia. I would like to mention a few actual examples that bear testimony to this great achievement: the current captain of the Namibia National Senior Ladies Hockey side is our very own Silke Pennefather with Reagon Graig, also of Ramblers, the vice-captain of the Namibia National Senior Mens side. On the football front, Henrico Botes is the current captain of the Namibia National Senior Football side known as Brave Warriors. And the first captain of the post independence Brave Warriors was Ramblers player Tollie van Wyk, currently the head coach of our Premier League outfit known as Windhoek Optics Ramblers.

Ladies and gentlemen, Ramblers Club is still going strong!! I think we would all agree that the only constant thing in life is change. Ramblers Club has survived the past so successfully and will also master the future successfully because of our ability of accepting and more importantly, adapting to changes.

Let’s for a moment look at the current challenges and changes that are facing our club. Modern society is characterized by increasing competition, a battle for survival, less time for fellow citizens, a growing need for materialistic values – in short egoism is flourishing! Our role as a sports club is to counterbalance these modern trends by promoting team work, companionship and unity. We might have different backgrounds, maybe even different cultures or levels of education, but one thing is certain: at the Ramblers Club we believe in unity in diversity! Back in 1981 already Ramblers became the first club in Namibia to turn multi racial in addition to always having been a multicultural club.

The profile of our membership has changed significantly over the last years. The VIP Club formed in 1997 consisting of eighty people is the foundation for development and improvement of the Club’s facilities. During the last five years changes to the Lapa and club house, and new change rooms for the ladies have all been financed via the VIP Club. Currently a second field is under construction to achieve our objective of youth development and possibly attracting new sports codes, again this will be financed by the VIP Club. Sports codes are paying membership fees on an affiliation basis depending on various criteria such as for example, number of persons per code and usage of the facilities.

One of our sports codes, the football section known as Windhoek Optics Ramblers has been transformed from an amateur status to a semi-professional status over the last four years. This transformation was made possible by our valued sponsor, Windhoek Optics, as well as funds generated by the annual Top Score 7-a-side tournament for companies, an event that is professionally managed (including all tournament statistics published on the Ramblers internet page) and growing in popularity from year to year. Players are engaged in fully fledged employment contracts, an own bus takes care of transport needs and the team is put into camp before important matches. Other developments such as participation in international matches, medical aid benefits for players are on the cards for the future. In June Henrico Botes made the headlines when he joined South African Premier League outfit Moroka Swallows on a fully professional basis thus crowning an excellent season for Windhoek Optics Ramblers with the winning of the NFA Cup and third place in the Premier League. At the end of October another ex Ramblers player, Quinton Jacobs, joined Ajax Cape Town. Windhoek Optics Ramblers is slowly, but surely paving the way for a semi professional status for Namibian football and this role model will be have to be copied by other Namibian clubs in future, if they want to remain competitive.

Other encouraging news from Ramblers soccer is the fact that a Colts side has been active for the last season taking second place in its league and this is certainly the first step in the direction of youth development. Our ladies side, also sponsored by Windhoek Optics, was also involved in league action this year taking third place.

The fourth active team of Ramblers is the Old Boys who are largely the backbone of the organizational and logistical aspects of the Club.

The hockey section of Ramblers has been very successful in the past, but especially in the last ten years. Many national field and indoor hockey titles were won. A lot of Ramblers players represented Namibia at the Africa Championships and Commonwealth games. But there was also a setback when thee men’s hockey division broke away from Ramblers during 1999. Thanks to the initiative of largely Silke Pennefather and Anke Haensel a men’s team is representing Ramblers in men’s hockey again since 2003. Also noteworthy is the youth development initiative that was started two years ago. The results of all these efforts speak for themselves: Ramblers Hockey currently boasts with 17 National Hockey players across the entire hockey spectrum from under 13 girls, u 16 boys, under 16 girls, under 21 boys as well as National Men and National Ladies. This is indeed a commendable effort. Reagon Graig and Silke Pennefather are also actively involved in coaching the various Ramblers sides in addition to serving the Namibian Senior National teams in their respective captaincy roles. Other coaches are Anke Haensel, who is also the coach of the Namibian under 21 boys side, and Marc Nel, son of Ramblers Honorary Life Member, Chris Nel.

Also noteworthy are the tremendous inputs and efforts of various Ramblers officials at the Namibian Hockey Union.

Ramblers Striders was formed in 2003. This sports code is proving to be very popular, not just amongst serious athletes, but also among a number of ladies and notably former soccer players competing more casually. Athletes are competing daily from Mondays to Thursdays as from 18H00 at the club house and the membership has grown to 40 members in two years. In the recent Lucky Star Dolphin marathon held at the coast two weeks ago, Andreas Angula from Ramblers Striders achieved third place and a bronze medal in the men’s open division.

Ramblers Bassmasters were formed in 1999 and currently consist of thirty members, including junior members. In angling competitions held over the last years in South Africa, the majority of the Namibian team consisted of Ramblers Bassmasters members.

Last year in September, the Namibian team managed to beat South Africa and Swaziland in an international angling competition held on the Vaal river. Ramblers Bassmasters members such as Evan van der Westhuizen, Herman Reinders, Anton Halgreen and Jaco van der Westhuizen have broken various Namibian records during the last five years.

Ramblers Club can rightly be very proud of all the achievements by the various sport codes!!

In conclusion: any institution or, as a matter of fact, any person that reaches 60 years of existence is without doubt a milestone in one’s lifetime, therefore I wish to congratulate Ramblers Club and all its members with this achievement and pay tribute to all those who kept the "Rammies" flag flying all these years and in doing so contributed to the development of sport in Namibia. To get to the top is easier than to stay at the top, as all our sport sections have experienced throughout the years. It is the continuous individual support and the team effort by all its members that will keep the club at the top and in existence so that other generations to come may enjoy the benefit of your efforts. On the sport fields over the years, Ramblers have proved that they are a force to be reckoned with, regularly contributing players to national Teams in various sports codes and making a positive contribution to sport in Namibia. Off the sports field, Ramblers boasts its own sports and clubhouse complex, which is financially sound and is poised to contribute even further to the development of the various sport codes in which it competes in Namibia.

However, the above is no guarantee for success in the future to make Ramblers a winning combination on and off the field, unless its members decide to put in that extra bit of effort, that is required to stay at the top. Let us work together as a team to make the next 60 years an even greater era in Ramblers history and remember:

Without change there can be no breakthroughs. Without breakthroughs, there can be no future!

Harald Hecht

Chairman