The Namibia Karate Federation (NKF) successfully hosted its All Styles National Junior and Senior Championship 2025 at the Jan Wilken Indoor Stadium in Walvis Bay last weekend.

Drawing more than 228 athletes competing across 317 events, the tournament brought together Namibia's junior and senior karatekas to battle for national honours, showcasing the sport's growing popularity and high standard of competition.

NKF President De Wet Moolman expressed satisfaction with the turnout, noting that the event continues to grow each year. He stated: "We are very pleased with the turnout. The tournament is growing; we definitely have to consider doing this tournament for two days-one day is not enough anymore. But we are satisfied with our result here. Last year this time, we were preparing for the athletes to go to the Commonwealth Championships, where we took away six medals. Then, in May, we took 39 medals. I believe it has been a good year for Namibian participation, and we hope to do better next year at the Continental tournament. But we're happy with what we see at the national level today."

Renshi Leonard Martin, Technical Chair of the NKF and Region South, praised the dedication of athletes and parents, emphasizing the bright future of karate in Namibia. He commented: "I must say, the commitment and support of athletes and parents makes this a great success. I think we have total entries of 228 participants today from 60 dojos that we have, and the future of karate looks quite bright. We also recently had the Region 5 Championships in Durban, South Africa, where we had a big team that won a lot of medals as well. Karate was included for the first time in the Youth Games, I must say. The future for Namibia karate is very bright; it is on a high form and [with good] discipline."

NBC SPORT also spoke with Keanu Stuurman, coach of athlete Angelo Stergiadis, who highlighted the importance of the championship in developing new talent. Stuurman shared his perspective:"From my side as a coach, I am just happy and grateful to be here because athletes have to work very hard to be here. I have another competition we are preparing for; this one is one of the stepping stones towards it from our side. And from Namibia's side, I think this is a very good opportunity for new athletes to come on the national stage, to help development for the South Region next year. The South Region is one of the competitions we always look towards each year, and each year we get better and better. We hope next year, from this competition, we can go forward and do great things."

The NKF described the championship as a "celebration of skill, discipline, and sportsmanship" that continues to strengthen the foundation of karate in Namibia.