01 Jul 2024

Debswana First Division North champions and Botswana Premier League newcomers, Chadibe Football Club has been hailed for the milestone achieved.

Speaking at the team’s awards ceremony, Shashe West MP, Fidelis Molao said the team’s promotion meant going all out to compete with giants of local football who had much experience of playing in the elite league.

This, he said, called for commitment and discipline in order to succeed.

He said being an amateur in premier league should not demoralise them but serve as a morale booster for them to excel and to ultimately be crowned champions once again.

He added that playing well in the league would help the team to attract investors and sponsors while at the same time it would put them in a better position to recruit more players to beef up their squad.

Taking attendees through the club’s journey thus far, the club president, Omega Ngurume highlighted that the team was established in 2015 and started off by playing at Francistown Regional Football Association (FRAFA) division two.

He said because of determination and eagerness of success they excelled through divisions until they gained promotion to play in the first division league in 2019.

In the 2022/2023 season while playing for first division, he said they were eliminated at playoffs just at the edge of gaining promotion to play in the elite league.

Ngurume appreciated Molao’s support from the time they were established to date, helping them with necessary resources to continue doing well.

At this point, he said they were preparing a team that was going to compete and remain in the premier league forever and that would only be possible with the support of their followers attending their games in numbers.

“Huge attendance of supporters boosts team moral in games,” he said

He further stated that with school sports returning, they were going to engage with schools to scout young players whom they would groom and nurture from grassroots.

The FRAFA chairperson, Jonas Ikgopoleng urged the team to tighten their screws to go all out and compete as they added to the numbers of Francistown teams in the premier league.

Meanwhile, Molao awarded 10 players, who were key to the success of the team, P20 000 with each getting P2 000 and a trophy. The player of the season award went to Samuel Phiri while top goal score award went to Moses Nyathi and Modise Kenewang was voted players’ player of the season.

Apart from the P20 000 for players, P20 000 was also given to the team as start-up capital for the season and P7 000 to be shared among the technical team. ENDS