12 Jul 2021

Botswana Karate Association (BOKA) secretary for referees commission, Moemedi Mpebe, has emphasised the importance of training referees so as to be up to date with current affairs of World Karate Federation (WKF).

He said in an interview on the sideline of a course for BOKA referees in Gaborone over the weekend that WKF rules were reviewed and changed annually hence the need for referees’ courses. 

“Our referees need to be up to date with current affairs of WKF, that included reviewed rules,” he added.

The course, which was meant for new referees, renewals and for those who wanted to attain international refereeing qualification, covered different topics through theory and trainees underwent testing at the end of the course while the second day was focused on practicals.

“We strive to attract more people to the game especially the youth, hence reviewed rules,” Mpebe added.

He said the international community wanted karate to be sporty rather than traditional in order to be included in different competitions such as Olympic Games. 

“It was work in progress to attain that,” he said.

He said the other reason for the course was to use this period when sport was stopped to prepare referees before resumption of games. He highlighted that they expected to train around 60 referees, 30 in Gaborone as well as in Francistown.

The referees, Mpebe said, had to understand WKF rule book, which he said was used worldwide. 

He said despite COVID 19 pandemic, they were determined to prepare their athletes and officials so that when the games resume they were not left far behind. 

One of the trainees, Lere Basupang said she had been more into karate administration and realised that there were few women referees, with only one being active and that motivated her to attend the course. 

“Other women would be motivated seeing that taking part in karate does not end with being a player but there are a lot of other ventures in the sport,” she said.

Basupang said she had also been a referee at JKA Botswana and now wanted to elevate to being BOKA referee.

She said the course was a great opportunity for her growth in the game since she had only been allowed to be a referee at federation level and now she would be able to partake in games as a national referee.

“The idea is to grow as a referee to international level,” she said. Ends