01 Sep 2021

Botswana Netball Association (BONA) has kick started preparations for Africa Union Sport Council (AUSC) Region 5 Games slated for Lesotho on December 4-8.

A communication from BONA indicates that a provisional squad of 32 players has been assembled and summoned for a training camp September 3-5.

“The association has decided to use Under 18 players for consistency and defined pathways for all players in preparations for the same games in 2022 and 2023 Africa Youth Games to be hosted by Ethiopia,” the communication says.

BONA’s marketing and public relations officer, Mokeresete Mokeresete, said COSANA had long term plan for development of players, hence the use of Under 18 players.

He said the decision to use U-18 players was an advantage to BONA given its four-year plan that was to be implemented this year.

He said the intention was to develop a team to represent the country at Youth World Cup scheduled for Gibraltar in 2025.

“We are building a team that is going to raise the national flag high. The youngest player in the team is 14 years and would be 18 years in 2025, while the oldest who is 17 years would be 21,” he added.

Regarding Lesotho games, he said the team was not under any pressure to win.

“They all do not have international experience, some of them have only played at COSASA, but lower level,” he said.

Mokeresete said they hoped for growth from the team during the 2022 AUSC Region 5 Games in Malawi and emphasised that the team should be ready to show level of competitiveness on the international stage during the 2023 Africa Youth Games in Ethiopia.

He said looking at the time the team would have spent together, this should have given them enough international experience to shine during Africa qualifiers for Youth World Cup in 2024.

Mokeresete noted that the aim was to end in top four at the world cup in 2025.

BONA’s PRO said the next camp was expected towards the end of September.

Furthermore, he appealed for support from stakeholders, adding that a grant from BNSC was not sufficient. ENDS