28 Oct 2013

Botswana Tertiary Student Sports Association (BOTESSA) has played a crucial role in the identification and development of sporting talent around the country.

And many athletes who represented the country in different sporting codes, had at one point competed under the auspices of BOTESSA. This was said by the organisation’s publicity secretary, Keefelakae Moloi during the two-day BOTESSA annual indoor and outdoor championships in Francistown over the weekend.

The championships were contested by athletes from universities, colleges of education, institutes of health sciences and technical colleges, among others. In an interview, Moloi explained that the intention of the games was to build solidarity amongst students, exploit talent and prepare for both continental and international games.

He further highlighted that during such competitions, they always had talent scouts in all sporting codes who identified players who would later be invited for trials to make the team that would represent the country in international competitions.

Also, he highlighted that most of the student athletes were active members of various clubs and even national teams which showed the competitiveness of their programs.

Since 2010 BOTESSA contributed athletes to various national teams in the form of Mogakolodi 'Tsotso' Ngele, Lemogang Maswena, Thato Bolweleng, Oteng Oteng and many others who went on to represent the country with distinction.  Consequently, he noted that the standard of the games were very high as teams which competed had won their respective leagues and qualified after the top four competitions.

“The players who are competing here are the cream of their sporting codes and have been tested before qualifying,” he observed. On other issues, Moloi said their players benefitted from the skills of experienced coaches who were qualified and some who were volunteers in various tertiary institutions.

However, he noted that they had started to carry out a skills audit to determine the skills levels that they had at BOTESSA and find out where there was a need to capacitate different sporting codes. Consequently, he explained that challenges of finance limited how they would like to execute their mandate. He, however applauded their affiliates, tertiary schools who provided transport and food to athletes who came for the championships and noted that this reduced the burden that they could have carried.

“In this instances, the committee then becomes responsible for looking after the officials who are in charge of games through the support of the grant they get from the Botswana National Sports Council,” he added.

Furthermore, he explained that since their last sponsorship agreement elapsed last year, they have been trying to talk to corporate sponsors to come to their assistance but said so far nothing has been achieved. Also, he said that in terms of sponsorship they would not want event sponsors only, but rather sponsorship that could cover three years or more so that the sponsors could also gain maximum mileage from the relationship.

He was of the view that mobile network providers would benefit a lot by partnering with BOTESSA as a majority of students could provide a niche market for products provided by cell phone companies. On the timing of the games towards the end of the year when institutions were preparing for examinations, Moloi noted that they looked at the calendars of their affiliates to avoid any disruptions as academics was the main priority for the institutions and athletes.

The other challenge that they faced, he highlighted, was that not all institutions had enough facilities to hold games in one area. “Currently we are using the Francistown College of Technical and Vocational Education (FCTVE), prisons grounds and Tonota College of Education for our games,” he noted. On other issues, he highlighted that BOTESSA teams have been doing well during the Zone V1 games, noting that their biggest competitor was South Africa due to its superior facilities and financial resources which gave them ample time to prepare for competitions.

Last year in Namibia during the Confederation of Universities and Colleges Sports Association (CUCSA) games, he mentioned that they came first and were third in the Africa university games. Participation at the World University Games, he highlighted, had not yielded a lot though they have brought a few medals. He explained that they looked forward to posting better performances in future but their plans were hampered by lack of funding.

Training camps, Moloi noted, were very expensive, hence they resorted to shorter camps which did not adequately prepare athletes enough for high level competitions. Furthermore, he said that they were limited in terms of the number of athletes they could send to international games due to expensive air tickets. Despite all these challenges, he noted that BOTESSA boasted of quality athletes who can stand their own against the world’s best.

This, he said, was evidenced by the fact that most of their products had been awarded the Elite sponsorship for distinguishing themselves in sports and academics. ENDS