02 May 2016

Botswana Tertiary Students Sports Association (BOTESSA) has played a fundamental role in the development of sport. 

Officially opening BOTESSA athletics national championships at the University of Botswana Stadium on Saturday, sport minister, Thapelo Olopeng said while school sport formed a bulk of the sport development continuum at development level, tertiary school sport was a point of departure into elite sport that made it an important stage in life of an athlete. 

He said BOTESSA’s major responsibility was to cement development of tertiary students’ athletic prowess, provide students with a platform to exploit their sporting skills and talents, including exposure to higher levels of competitions locally, regionally continentally and world-life. 

Competitions at such levels, he said, trained and equipped athletes with skills to use during Africa Games and other high level competitions, which required robust programmes and training camps for both athletes and officials, adding that all came  with high sense of commitment and opportunity to learn. 

Minister Olopeng said BOTESSA should use member structures to enhance sport development initiatives. 

“Unlike other national sporting associations, your mandate is even broader as you are leading young adults who are in the critical stages of self discovery. If they do not set a clear direction and follow it with passion, commitment and discipline, chances of success become slim,” he said. 

Furthermore, he told athletes that chances of making it to national teams were evident when they were at tertiary school level, while those of rewarding careers started with how well they applied themselves as tertiary school students. 

Nevertheless, Olopeng said he was happy that BOTESSA was indeed delivering its mandate given that it was an organisation that was up to date with its membership to the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC). 

“You are also up to date and full registration with the Registrar of Societies, with your affiliation to the Confederation of Universities and Colleges of Southern Africa (CUCSA). You also continue to pressure and seek more opportunities of affiliation to the Federation of Africa University Sport (FASU) and Federation World International University Sport (FISU),” he said. 

On other issues, Olopeng said people who engaged in sport were less likely to be overweight or obese, depressed, smoked, used illicit drugs or had unwanted pregnancies, adding physical activity could also lead to better academic performance. 

Participating in sport, he said could also help young people improve their problem-solving abilities, self-confidence as well as increase social acceptance. ENDS