13 Dec 2016

Botswana Boxing Association (BoBA) affiliates have been advised to take their game to the next level for the sport to be taken seriously.

BoBA president, Dr Thato Patlakwe said there was a growing need to improve structures in boxing’s respective clubs and strengthen internal capacity.

He said there should be great organisation at club level with able administration that would put good initiatives to improve at club levels.

Speaking at the association’s Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) on Saturday, Dr Patlakwe said there could be no viable and accessible club without a well-run and accessible system and this could be made possible by recruiting people with administrative capabilities.

“Administrators should be seen performing their administrative duties, while technical officials are focusing on their duties as coaches and referees, this I truly believe will reduce the challenges we are currently facing as the association especially that of communication and attending meetings.”

Dr Patlakwe pleaded with delegates that in the next elective congress next year, they should recruit capable administrators who had vision and commitment in the field of the sport.

He said as the new Olympic Cycle gets underway towards Tokyo 2020, an underlying theme of the Heads Up initiative in 2017 would be the AIBA Year of Africa.

Dr Patlakwe explained that with a view to plotting a course for the African Boxing Federation (AFBC) to build on its solid foundation, this was designed to set achievable goals and strategies that would take the continent’s boxing forward using a dynamic template to be adapted to other territories.

He said Botswana was hopeful to gain from all this as it take the sport of boxing to another better level.

In other issues, Dr Patlakwe told BoBA affiliates that the association was still waiting for the world boxing governing body AIBA to provide them with a certified instructor to train BoBA’s star 1 to be certified as AIBA star 2.
He also said they were to organise a workshop early next year to evaluate the strategic plan and propose a new strategy.

Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, BoBA secretary general Irene Ntelamo said the forum was an opportune moment to reflect on the year and map the way forward. She said the highlight of the day was the signing of the Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration on Women and Sport.

She said the signing of the declaration was an excellent way to affirm the male dominated sport’s commitment to gender equality. ENDS