20 Apr 2017

In the rouse of successful inter regional youth football tournaments over the Easter holidays, the Botswana Football Association (BFA) has expressed satisfaction with the overall outcome of the tournaments.

The tournaments, which attracted over 1 800 participants were held in all the four BFA regional blocks comprising of under 13, 15, 17 boys and girls teams.

In an interview, BFA public relations officer (PRO), Tumo Mpatane said they were happy with the reception of the project they recently undertook.

“All the blocks can show that indeed the youth development project needs dedication, hard work and determination that we have seen over the course of the tournament and we are very ecstatic with the progress we have made so far,” said the upbeat Mpatane.

Mpatane also said they made sure that all the regions were represented across all the categories for both boys and girls, citing that as an achievement.

He also said as the association they were particularly happy with the participation of the girls in the games.

“As the association we strongly believe that women are equally capable of playing football and platforms like these will empower them. It will also get women to love and play football at a very tender age,” said Mpatane.

The astute mouthpiece also added that they have now planted the development seed in the children which its fruits will be enjoyed by the nation at large.

He also said this was a single step in a lot of months’ work and that they were happy and humbled as the footballing mother body.

Quizzed on whether they reached their set targets, Mpatane said they reached all of them.

Mpatane said the targets were to select both boys and girls block teams for all the age categories. He also said it was for the BFA administration to understand the needs and challenges of football development and to interact with different stakeholders at the grounds.

He also said they were most impressed by the dedication, love and passion for football conveyed by the participants and the courtesy channelled towards the games by the support staff.

However, Mpatane said the tournaments were not all a bed of roses as they encountered some minor challenges along the way.

“Transportation of the participants going to the venues was a challenge when we started, but we devised a plan to rescue the situation and also time management was an issue as teams were always late,” lamented the former Gabz FM sports anchor.

He also said going forward they would reinforce the buy in of every stakeholder.

Mpatane said as they had now selected shadow youth blocks teams, they were now looking at the grand finale for all the blocks which is slated for the 29th of April in Gaborone.

He said they were using the blocks final to select the boys’ and girls’ Under 13, 15, 17 shadow national teams.

Mpatane also said during the block finals, they would use the opportunity to display to the nation what development was in the new era of football.

He also outlined that what they were doing as the association was only the beginning, and that more was to come for the football nation.

In his parting words, Mpatane thanked all the blocks for participating and also made a plea to the public to offer support in the growth of football. BOPA