27 Apr 2020

Maun-based Sankoyo Bush Bucks’ football club has secured partnership with Great Plains Conservation Company.

The company is said to have shown interest to aid the ailing club, which was relegated from the premier league in 2018. The team has been struggling to secure a sponsorship and relied on Sankoyo Tshwaragano Development Trust since its existence.

Great Plains Conservation is a multi-award winning company with safari camps and lodges in Botswana and Kenya. The safari company, which operates in the Okavango Delta uses eco-tourism as a tool to sustain conservation programmes.

In an interview, Sankoyo club chairperson, Sekai Morotsi confirmed that they had entered into a partnership with the company following their plea for assistance.

The team missed one of its away games with Motlakase Football Club last year due to financial constraints.

Plans, he said were finalised to launch the partnership during their scheduled home encounter with Eleven Eagles Football Club but it was halted following the suspension of sporting activities owing to COVID-19 pandemic.

He appreciated that the company had already sponsored two of their games and promised to assist in the remaining games.

Prior to the suspension of the games, Morotsi said that the company had already arranged to conduct a football clinic for the club and invited one of the former South African soccer stars, Gordon Gilbert to facilitate it.

Gilbert, who played for Kaizer Chiefs and Mpumalanga Football Club as a key defender, was expected to assess and address all club departments such as the team, technical and management to establish what could be done to assist the team to trace its roots to the premier league.

Morotsi said Gilbert was also expected to submit a report to the company management at the completion of the clinic to pave the way for assistance.

He is optimistic that once the situation stabilises, all planned activities would be implemented, saying the partnership with Great Plains would bring positive results as it would motivate players and ensure they finish the North Debswana First Division league in a better position and also bounce back to the premier league in the next season.

For his part, Sankoyo Tshwaragano Development Trust assistant manager, Nkgololang Samakata said the trust would continue to support the club where possible.

The trust, he said had been the pillar of the struggling team adding that the team was where it was today because of their support.

He noted that they had put aside P60 000 to assist the team during the 2020/21 financial year adding that currently, they were waiting for the club’s plan. Samakata also noted that efforts were underway to assist players with food hampers to rescue them from the effects of COVID 19.

Meanwhile, the club chairperson revealed that currently players were given a training programme to implement it while at home so that they maintain fit during the extreme social distancing period. Ends