21 Oct 2018

Over  500 athletes across the country will converge in Maun for the national finals of the second cycle constituency sport tournament 2018 scheduled for October 27-28.

The event would attract athletes from eight regions who would compete in sports codes such as football, volleyball and netball.

An official from district youth office in Maun, Thelma Chaya revealed during a preparatory meeting that preparations were on track.

She said some sub-committees were doing well in their assignments and she encouraged other committees to work to ensure that the event was a success.

The constituency sports tournament, which started in 2008, was aimed at curbing social ills amongst the unemployed out of school youths and it was reported to have grown significantly over the years with positive results.

Another objective of the programme was to keep the unemployed youth busy by taking them away from the streets, bars and criminal activities whilst looking for jobs.

Meanwhile, other staleholders have welcomed hosting og the finals in Maun saying the area was the right place as it had contributed significantly to sport development in the country.

They also hailed the initiative saying it had produced the desired results and unearthed a lot of talent amongst young people.

Sport writer, Thuso Rammidi said the initiative was good as since its inception, it had promoted mass participation and developed skills of the youth of Botswana.

He said the initiative had given some athletes exposure to big teams adding that there were many players from the region who had been absorbed in the Premiership league teams.

Sankoyo head coach, Tiiso Gadimang shared the same sentiments noting that the constituency tournament had helped to remove majority of youth from the streets.

He said young people had developed interest in sports and formed clubs of which some had made strides and started income generating projects with the prize money they won.

Gadimang also noted that big teams such as Sankoyo Bush Bucks had also benefited from the initiative as they had managed to recruit quality players from teams in the constituency initiative. Ends