08 Oct 2023

Botswana Volleyball Federation (BVF) tournament’s top four-placed teams will represent Botswana at the Zone VI games billed for Lesotho in December.

The quartet of Mafolofolo and Police VI women and BDF VI and Kutlwano men booked themselves places at the regional meet during the final held at Sir Seretse Khama Barracks (SSKB) volleyball courts on Saturday.

Police VI defeated Mafolofolo 3-2 in the women’s final while BDF VI thrashed long-time rivals Kutlwano 3-1 in the men’s final.

In an interview after the tournament, BVF acting president Ndibo Lebala said they had decided to start volleyball activities even though they were faced with financial constraints.

He said the teams’ response was encouraging, as they had shown hunger during the tournament.

Despite starting on a lower note, Lebala said the tournament gained momentum with time hence the impressive final matches.

“We can say it has been a good tournament with a good turn out from the teams,” he said.

He said he was impressed by the volleyball supporters turn up, which was a sign that the sport was growing and remained a favourite among the multitudes.

The acting head said teams and crowd that came for the tournament would go a long way in convincing potential sponsors that volleyball was a reliable partner to invest in.

He said the tournament was funded from BVF coffers, as well as getting a much needed financial boost of P50 000 from Mascom Wireless.

In the past, Mascom Wireless was instrumental for taking volleyball to greater heights and therefore appreciated what they were doing for volleyball and remained optimistic for their support in their future endeavours.

Though the tournament did not attract prize money for the participating teams, Lebala said the limited funds were used to assist all the participating teams in the running of the tournament, a move that was appreciated by the clubs as they have been waiting to play.

Furthermore, Lebala said BVF had another tournament planned for November that would keep the current top four teams active and give them the much-needed practice ahead of Zone VI games.

He said the tournament would run for a month and conclude at the end of November adding that Zone VI would be staged a week after the completion of the tournament. Ends