25 Mar 2024

The African Stars International Athletics Championships will from next year be split into two, with the other event taking place in Francistown to cater for the northern part of the country.

This was revealed by coordinator and chairperson of the event, Harvinder Dhaliwal at the official opening ceremony of the championships at the National Stadium yesterday.

Dhaliwal also revealed intentions to make the event, which is in its first year, an annual event.

He said this was all done in recognition and the need, to tap the abundant athletics talent that the country had, which he said had been for years frustrated by lack of school sport.

“We want to close the vacuum that has been experienced in school sport for years because we believe that school sport is the foundation of sport development,” he said.

Dhaliwal therefore encouraged stakeholders to support the initiative to make it grow.

Gaborone City Council deputy mayor, Oduetse Tautona also appreciated the event and said it would help revive school sport.

“Sport has turned into a global industry that benefits all associated with it, so athletics is no longer just sport, but a way of earning a living,” he said, and therefore encouraged the kids to take their talents seriously.

Tautona also emphasised the importance of allowing kids to experiment with a variety of sporting codes at a young age, only allowing them to focus on a code of their choice with age.

He was also supportive of the idea of making the event an annual event and urged more schools to participate in the championship to give sport developers a larger pool of upcoming athletes to work with.

For her part, Botswana Athletics Association general secretary, Pinkie Wilson said the championship was a good initiative as it resonated well with the association’s objectives of developing sport from grassroots level.

He also cautioned that at such a tender age, more basis should be put on developing athletes’ bodies and minds than prioritizing results.

The championship will run until Saturday. ENDS