30 Oct 2017

The launch of Re Ba Bona Ha Ghanzi Boxing Centre on October 28 should not only be regarded as a pathway to build future champions, but should also be considered as a platform to develop communities.

The chairperson of Ghanzi East sub council, Dichaba Thupe, who drew inspiration from Nelson Mandela’s words, “Sport has the power to unite people in a way that little else can. It can create hope where once there was only despair. It breaks down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all kinds of discrimination. Sport speaks to people in a language they can understand,” highlighted during the launch.

“Our focus and interest should not only be to develop world champions, but to produce well rounded young men and women and develop communities through sport," said Thupe.

He implored athletes to be disciplined and to shun all forms of abuse as well as drug and alcohol abuse.

The Ghanzi East sub council chairperson said children should be assisted to develop their skills, values, creativity and dreams.

“We should impress upon them to devote sufficient time to their education and pursue sport so that they compete and exercise regularly,” Thupe stated.

He said the launch of the boxing centre would give children in the area a rare opportunity to learn from a tender age the proper execution of skills and techniques in boxing.

He implored the Ghanzi community to ensure that their children  benefitted from the programme and challenged them to support sports structures that had been put in place to provide sporting opportunities to their children.

He congratulated Botswana National Sport Commission and Debswana for their unrelenting efforts in forging the partnership which has seen more than P9 million injected into the Re Ba Bona Ha programme.

Botswana National Sport Commission acting director, Mission Mereyotlhe was confident that the centre would go a long way in promoting boxing in Ghanzi in line with existing programmes such as the Botswana Games identification and nurturing of talent from a young age.

“Sometimes as young as four years is no longer an option but a necessity if we are to compete with the best and win.”

Mereyotlhe argued that results from all over the world showed that those who started at an early age grew to master the complex skills involved in sports.

He emphasised that excellence in sport was not incidental. “We need coordinated development programmers hence Re Ba Bona Ha programme aims at identifying the right talent at the right time and consistently nurturing it.”

Mereyotlhe implored all Botswana Boxing technical committees to take talent identification as their priority because without a base to work from, sport would not grow at a pace “we expect our athletes to compete well at the world stage.”

He expressed hope that the Debswana Re Ba Bona Ha would in  future make the country a hub of sports excellence.

Mereyotlhe expressed gratitude to Debswana, saying the millions contributed over the past eight years had enriched a lot of young people, and that many more would continue to benefit from the investment.

Ghanzi Boxing Club coach, Phuthego Mathaithai hailed the Re Ba Bona Ha programme and urged children to exploit opportunities presented by the programme. BOPA