31 Mar 2016

Constituency tournaments continue to unleash new talent. 

The tournaments helped two youths in Dibete to progress into mainstream football in the beMobile Premier League and the Debswana First Division South League. 

Kabo Maxala and Thato Ogopotse are testimony that constituency tournaments were important to sport development.

Lebeilwe Nyambe, an official at Dibete Home Leaders said in an interview that Maxala signed for Modipane United while Ogopotse was at Gaborone United. He said besides giving players exposure, constituency tournaments boosted the teams economically and helped a lot in keeping the youth disciplined.

“Even those who are notorious for criminal activities often take a break during the league to focus on sports. They go for practice and rest in the evenings. This does not give them time to indulge in unacceptable behaviour,” he said.

Dibete Homeleaders has netball, volleyball and football teams that all participate in the constituency tournaments. Nyambe said even though their biggest challenge was finance, they would not back down from the tournament as they had realised its importance in nurturing talent.

He suggested that it would also help if their prize money was paid well in time.  

“We receive our prize money very late and this does not make things easier for any of us. Many of us are not working but because we are passionate about sports we make sure that we participate,” he said.

He said they are often left without a choice but to borrow money for transport and food as most of the games are held in Shoshong. He said as a result, they use money from the constituency tournaments to pay back loans instead of using it to improve their livelihood.

He appealed to authorities to at least provide them with transport as is the case with other small villages like Mokgenene.

Nyambe said their dream was to register with the Botswana Football Association for them to participate in prestigious leagues. ENDS