09 Jul 2017

President Lieutenant General Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama says the hosting of 2017 Netball World Youth Cup will help to re-focus attention on youth sport development in Botswana.

The President was officially opening the nine day 2017 NWYC at the University of Botswana Indoor Arena on Saturday night.

Twenty countries, including hosts Botswana, will battle to dethrone defending champion New Zealand.

 “As government, we will work with netball administrator to entrench the legacy of the Games nationwide. The 2017 Under 21 Netball World Youth Cup will serve as a springboard to propel the development of netball and sport in our country to another level,” said the President.

He added that the development of netball at junior level would fast-track the development of players for the senior national team.

He thanked the International Netball Federation for giving Botswana an opportunity to host the games and expressed government commitment to the development of the nation through sport.

“To this end, we have continued to develop sport infrastructure and introduced sport and recreation programmes across the entire country. All these efforts were undertaken to promote a culture of participation in sport in our belief that sport can contribute significantly to wellness and a productive nation,” said the President.

He said government support for the hosting of the 2017 NWYC was part of a broad strategy to host major sporting events as they played a critical role in the socio-economic development of any country.

“As part of this strategy, we have hosted various international events among them the Africa Youth Games 2014 and will host the World Baseball Softball Congress 2017, the International Working Group on Women World Conference 2018, and Africa Union Region 5 Under 20 Games,” he said.

Botswana Netball Association president Tebogo Lebotse-Sebego said Botswana was inspired to host the NWYC after participating in the competition in Cook Islands eight years ago.

“Cook Islands made us realise that big dreams only required a big heart and mad passion to achieve,” she said. ENDS