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<p>The 4<sup>th</sup>&nbsp; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AfricaCupInlineHockey/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Africa Cup Inline Hockey Championships</a> was a week filled with excitement and anticipation as supporters went wild and players gave it their best shot.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>From 22 to 27 August 2022, the <a href="https://thedomenamibia.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MTC Dome Namibia</a> had 250 players from 12 different nationalities compete in one of the fastest moving team sports in the world. The countries represented were; Namibia, South Africa, Switzerland, England, Germany, USA, Canada, France, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Italy.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>For those that don’t know the sport <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_in-line_hockey" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Inline Hockey, or Roller Hockey;</a> it is a derivative of Ice Hockey. Instead of playing on ice with ice skates, they play on a hard smooth surface with inline/roller skates. Players use hockey sticks to manipulate the puck (a piece of hard plastic) into their opponent's goal to score points, providing the spectators with quite a thrilling show.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
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<p>34 teams competed in 9 different age categories; the youngest being, a first for this event, was the Under 6, followed by Under 10, Under 14, Under 18, Under 22 and under 30. Rookies, Adult Silver and Pros made up the balance. The games were executed in the traditional round robin fashion, with a few skill competitions in the mix, until they had their semi-finals and finals. View the live streaming of the games on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX3LJjA-ZptxyBjNGqznmEA/featured" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tv2Namibia</a>&nbsp;</p>
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<p>“The Africa Cup Inline Hockey Championships is one of the few sports that accommodates such a large variety of divisions, from ages under 6 to veterans, all within one tournament. It was a true family affair”</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph --><cite>Fanus Engelbrecht, CEO of MTC Dome Namibia</cite></blockquote>
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<p>In the Pro division there were two Namibian National teams (Senior and Junior Men) competing along with international teams, PGKA Alliance, PAMA Golden Knights, Swiss Alliance, and Ninja Hockey Shop.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>In the finals the international team, PGKA Golden Knights, beat the Namibian National Senior Men’s team 8-3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Africa Cup Inline Hockey: Final Day </p>
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<!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQQOGuG3eg8","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} -->
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQQOGuG3eg8
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">View the live stream of the final day.</figcaption></figure>
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<p>The PGKA Golden Knights is a multi-national team consisting of a whopping 8 nationalities and has the only female playing in the Pro division.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>The winning results for the 4<sup>th</sup> Africa Cup Inline Hockey Championships are as follows;&nbsp;</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td>Division&nbsp;</td><td>1<sup>st</sup> Place&nbsp;</td><td>2<sup>nd</sup> Place&nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td>U6&nbsp;</td><td colspan="2">Both Go2Namibia and Heja Game Lodge. All the players got gold and shared the division trophy.&nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td>U10&nbsp;</td><td>Demushuwa Property Developers&nbsp;</td><td>GH Sports&nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td>U14&nbsp;</td><td>Marsblade&nbsp;</td><td>Bauer&nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td>U18&nbsp;</td><td>Namibia Red&nbsp;</td><td>Swiss Alliance&nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td>U22&nbsp;</td><td>Namibia Blue&nbsp;</td><td>Namibia Red&nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td>30 Plus&nbsp;</td><td>PGKA Alliance&nbsp;</td><td>Dragons&nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td>Adult Silver&nbsp;</td><td>Ninja Hockey&nbsp;</td><td>Dragons&nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td>Pros&nbsp;</td><td>PAMA Golden Knights&nbsp;</td><td>NAM Senior Men's&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>
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<p>To the MTC Dome Namibia, hosting the Africa Cup Inline Hockey Championships for the 4<sup>th</sup> time, it was another successful accomplishment. As the only High-Performance Centre in Namibia, we were honored very recently, to be accredited internationally by the ASPC. We believe there will be many more events of this magnitude and greater in the future.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Read more about this exhilarating event and what Dave Hammond (Chairman of the <a href="http://www.worldskate.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Skate Africa</a> and Africa Cup Inline Hockey) has to say to <a href="http://erongo.com.na/sport-wrap-main/world-class-inline-hockey-at-africa-cup-in-swakop2022-08-2929530" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Namibia Media Holding (NMH)</a>.&nbsp;</p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>More about the Africa Cup Inline Hockey Championship</strong>&nbsp;</h2>
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<p>The Africa Cup Inline Hockey Championships was established in 2017 and has since then become an annual event at the MTC Dome Namibia, with the exception of 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19. They plan on partnering with World Skate Africa, which could lead this tournament to join the Africa Skate Games. This would broaden the horizons and potentially include other disciplines, such as Speed Skating, Rink Hockey, Downhill, Freestyle, Artistic, Roller Derby and Skateboarding. The hope is to use the Africa Cup Inline Hockey Championships as a qualifier for the World Skate Championships, providing the opportunity for African countries to compete in the big leagues.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>The main focus for the Africa Cup Inline Hockey Championships, as set out by Dave Hammond, is to create an experience for all. The players get to experience game awards, interviews, live streaming, commentating, tournament MVP (Most valuable Player) and all-star awards. The spectators get to experience action packed entertainment, with good food, a fully serviced bar, and the surroundings of the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namib" target="_blank">Namib Desert,</a> the oldest desert in the world.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
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