05 May 2013

British Council project officer, Gabriel Gape says sports development centres which they launched countrywide last year are doing well.

Speaking in an interview at the launch of the Premier Skills project in Palapye on Saturday, Gape said they have evaluated the sports centres and are progressing well.

Gape said they would produce a report which will help identify challenges faced by the centres and provide solutions.

He appealed to coaches based in the centres to seek more stakeholders for their centres to function well. 

Their responsibility, he noted, is to find ways to generate income.

Gape said the Palapye Premier Skills is the eighth centre to be launched and they intend opening other centres across the country. 

He said 32 coaches have already been trained for phase 1 of the premier skills community coaches’ course, and that they would cascade the knowledge to young people between the ages of nine to 14 years in their communities.

He said after the launch of the sports centres, coaches are left with equipment for the centres to function. 

The football instructor of Premier Skills, Barobi Ngwako said they have selected a committee which would train children on life skills and football. She appealed to parents to support their children because they would gain skills in football. 

Ngwako described football as a tool that can be used to deliver messages to children. Botswana Football Association national executive committee member, Gaolathe Kelesitse applauded the British Council for the project, saying it would help improve sports in Botswana.

Premier Skills is a collaborative innovative coaching project between the Premier League and the British Council aimed at developing the coaching skills of young people and to educate them on how they could use football as a tool for skills and community development. ENDS