21 Mar 2019

GETbucks Botswana has injected P300 000 as sponsorship for Notwane Football Club.

Speaking at the sponsorship launch on March 21, Assistant Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Dikgang Makgalemele said it was imperative that other companies should emulate GETBucks to ensure that sport played a role in employment creation.

Makgalemele said the sponsorship would restore hope in not just Notwane, but the football fraternity as well as motivating football players.

“As Assistant Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, I would like to commend GETBucks for taking an initiative of not only lifting Notwane Football Club, but the Botswana sporting fraternity with this sponsorship,” he said.

As a former team manager of Notwane in the 1990s, he said he was hopeful that  the  partnership with GETBucks would bring back the glory days when the club, also known as Toronto, won every tournament in Botswana.

Makgalemele said a number of teams,  Notwane included, were struggling financially due to lack of corporate support.

That, he said, has resulted in an unwanted scenario where clubs failed to pay their staff, including players and coaches, something he said affected the value of football as a product.

He however said the partnership between GETBucks and Notwane was not only a good one, but also a historical one which would see a lot of positive development for football.

In other issues, he said Notwane was one of the entity that had played a major role in the community, adding that it was therefore important for the club’s leadership to develop  a retainment strategy for the club.

He said a couple of years back, the club had a good development programme, but  with a bad strategy to retain players.

Furthermore, Makgalemele said the club should resurrect the youth development programme which had kept the team going.

Notwane president, Tebogo Sebego said the club was formed in April 12, 1964, adding that in 1965 on the eve of Botswana’s independence, the club relocated to Gaborone from Mafikeng.

He said the club was then officially registered on its arrival, saying when Botswana Football Association became organised in league formation, Notwane became the first team to win the league in 1978.

GETBucks managing director, Marthin de Kock said his company was the official sponsor for Notwane for the remainder of the season and the 2019-2020 season.

He said GETbucks decided to sponsor the club after realising that Notwane had produced legends as well as national soccer players who continued to inspire different people.

Furthermore, he said their journey with Notwane would enhance hard work and improve local soccer as well as nurture talent. ENDS