Imbuwa: A force to be reckoned with

Hillary Dux Imbuwa has been a force to be reckoned with in the volleyball fraternity.

He served as the Namibia Volleyball Federation (NVF) vice-president from 2016 to 2017, as interim president from 2018 to 2019, and as president from 2020 until the end of July this year.

His successor and newly-elected NVF president, Tobias Mwatelulo, acknowledged the extraordinary contributions of the outgoing president to the growth of the local sport.

“He served his tenure with dedication, commitment and commendable sacrifice. He often travelled to events at his own expense to ensure everything ran smoothly. We owe the successful implementation of the NVF’s 2020 to 2024 strategic plan to him,” Mwatelulo said.

Imbuwa has held various sports portfolios in the Confederation of School Sport Association for Southern Africa (COSSASA), the African Dream Volleyball development project and the Namibia Schools Sport Union (NSSU).

Imuwa currently serves as the African Volleyball Confederation (CAVB) marketing commissioner, a role he assumed in 2020.



Making his mark

His love for volleyball began early and he first made his mark at 16 when his high school coach, Lucious Chaata, entrusted him to captain the Kizito College team and coach the under-13 girls.

“I have since gone on to captain several teams at both regional and national levels. This trend continued through my professional career as a teacher, where I played for Six Starts Volleyball Club in Ondangwa from 2003 to 2013.

“I have also attended national coaching courses by the NVF and FIVB. In 2015, NVF sent me for a five-month volleyball coaching diploma as a trainer of trainers at Leipzig University in Germany,” Imbuwa said.



Exceptional leadership

His passion for the sport, combined with his leadership skills, led him to establish the Far North Volleyball League (FNVL) in 2010 with his fellow players. He served asFNVL chairperson until 2013.

Imbuwa then used the FNVL model to advocate for the establishment of volleyball zones nationwide. “With the FNVL serving as a pilot program, the NVF saw it as necessary to implement the same model in other parts of the country,” he said.

He recently received an honorary title from the NVF board for his “exceptional leadership and contributions to volleyball”.

“This title is a profound and meaningful recognition of my tenure. It symbolises several key aspects of my leadership and their impact,” he said.



Higher sport roles

Talking about Imbuwa’s contribution to volleyball, Namibia Sports Commission chief administrator Freddy Mwiya said he is one individual in the sports fraternity ideally suited to serve at a board level.

“I'm not praising him just because he is from home. If he continues on this path, he is someone we should seriously consider for higher roles. He transformed volleyball significantly, establishing a league and forming a national team, which hadn't existed for a long time,” Mwiya said.

He added that since Imbuwa became NVF’s president, “there has been no boardroom infighting, unlike in other sports”.

“His vision and strategic plan have produced great results. We don’t want to lose him from sports. He should start training others, and we’ll reach out to him to mediate any future conflicts in the federation,” Mwiya noted.