Ahrens determined to plough back into sport

Former Olympic trap shooter Gaby Ahrens has vowed to plough back into sports after attaining her Master's Degree in Sports Management in Switzerland for the past year. Ahrens, who retired from active sports after the 2016 Olympic Rio games, says that at the time she needed to find a new goal, while still being involved in sports and making a difference. She decided to apply for a Master's Degree in Sports Management offered by the International Olympic Committee through its solidarity programme. Some of the modules covered were good governance of sports organisations, event management, financial management, marketing and social media. While Ahrens enjoyed the journey, she said she gained a completely new perspective on sports management. “It's a completely different world form being an athlete. I was not aware of some of the problems that are happening back stage. This year has really opened my eyes a lot on good governance, what's happening, what's supposed to be done, how we can improve some of the guidelines and policies back at home. So I have observed a lot of things that we can change in Namibia” Ahrens explained. Ahrens is set to present her ideas for community upliftment to the NNOC board members and to the federations at their AGM slated for November. “One of the things is to put policies in place, once the athlete qualifies. Can we give them a checklist or strategy or we inform them on the host country, what do they need to know to make their lives easier” she said. She also encouraged the people of Namibia to try and find out more about what is being offered by the Olympics Solidarity programme through the Olympic committee. Ahrens is proud to announce that Talitha Jario from the NNOC board,will be the next Namibian to take on the master's degree.

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Emelda Muchenje