13 Nov 2017

Acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development says the country can produce better results at international sporting activities if government and the private sector can forge strong partnerships.

Speaking during private sector engagement dinner centering on Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Gaborone on Saturday, Kgopotso Ramoroka said government alone cannot handle the heavy burden associated with preparing athletes to compete in international meets as there was a lot of investment and time involved.

He therefore told captains of the industry, who attended the event that they had been invited to sit down and explore possible symbolic opportunities to partner with Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) to develop some of the sport people into world class beaters and at the same time nurture and grow their brands.

Ramoroka said preparing athletes to win medals on the world stage required not only a lot of time, but also investment and resources. He noted there were few sport events that countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, China and Australia among others, do not feature very prominently at the top of the medal table.

He said what was particularly interesting with these successful countries was that most of them started preparing their athletes and teams to major games no later than four years before the games; and most importantly such preparations were predominantly private sector driven.

Ramoroka however said the night was also meant for the BNOC to present athletic development programme designed along similar lines to the United Kingdom World Class Performance Programme; Australia’s Direct Athlete Support linked to the country’s- Winning Edge- High Performance Strategy, the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Athlete Excellence Fund (AEF) and South Africa’s Operation Excellence 2012 for London Olympic.

Meanwhile, BNOC chief executive officer Tuelo Serufho said BNOC targeted to enroll 30 athletes to prepare and attempt to qualify for the 2018 Commonwealth and Tokyo 2020 Olympic games, noting that it had set itself a target of eight medals for Commonwealth and four medals for the Olympic Games.

He therefore said partnerships were being sought with private sector to prepare the team to start preparations early, noting that they would implore their Diamond Athletic Development Programme designed to support athletes to reach podium finish.

Serufho said the objectives of the partnerships were to promote partnership with the private sector towards the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games; build brand equity for local partners through NOC institutional properties including Olympic rings; create awareness and generate interest on Team Botswana and position Team Botswana as a symbol of national pride.

Key areas for athlete support services include athlete support services which encompasses athlete having access to physiotherapy, sport psychology, sport medicine, nutrition and other when required, he said. “There should also be training grant to cover travel expenses for training and competitions, accommodation and meals including equipment for training, coaching, apparel, competition fees and support services abroad,” he said. BOPA