01 Jun 2025

 Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) in collaboration with Botswana Table Tennis Association (BTTA) have launched Re Ba Bona Ha grassroots programme to focus on table tennis development. 

Speaking at the launch held at Delta Waters International School in Maun on Saturday,  the school principal Pearce Khoza thanked the two organisations for partnering with the school to develop table tennis at grassroots level. He said the school looked forward to building strong partnership that promoted not only academic success, but also the values of sportsmanship, discipline and holistic learner development.

He appreciated that the school also hosted the first ever national table tennis tournament, saying that was more than a sporting event but ‘a planting of a seed, one we believe will grow into a vibrant tree of opportunity, talent development and community engagement. 

"We appreciate BTTA for choosing us as the host partner and this is a new chapter in the history of sport development in our region and we are proud to be at the forefront," he said. 

Khoza further acknowledged BTTA leadership confidence in their ability to nurture, manage and support young talent saying their partnership would elevate the status of the school within sports administration circles and signals their commitment to holistic education, one that embraced the essential role of sport in shaping disciplined, resilient and team-oriented individuals. 

“As we integrate table tennis in our school programmes among others sport faculties on offer, we are confident that the learning environment will be enriched, providing our learners with new ways to grow both mentally and physically,” he said.

Khoza also invited Maun community to walk the journey with the school as they could nurture talent and grow table tennis not only within the school but across the neighbourhoods and into the wider region. 

BNSC sports development and technical manager, Fredrick Kebadiretse thanked the school management for allowing them to launch the programme and the Maun Open Table Tennis Tournament in the school, saying that was testament that they were eager to develop and grow talent at young age. The Re Ba Bona Ha programme, he said targeted children aged between 5 to 15 in different sporting disciplines. Currently, he said they had already launched the programme in sport codes such as football, netball, basketball and table tennis.

While he appreciated that the programme meant to identify talent and develop it, he also highlighted that through the programme, they aimed to introduce children to try sporting code of their choice at a tender age so that they could develop their athletic abilities. Kebadiretse further noted that sport had proven to be a highly profitable industry saying introducing children to different sport codes could lead to immediate and long term benefits.

“Nowadays employment opportunities are limited and the scale for formal employment have changed hence it is important to take sport seriously and create dual careers and eventually make a living,” he added.

He said it was important to catch them young so that ‘we increase their participation opportunities in sport and that could help them make informed decisions on their pathways’. 

BTTA president, Kudzanani Motswagole thanked Delta Waters School management for acceding to be the hub for table tennis sport saying that would benefit future generation. He concurred that the purpose of the launch was to build formidable athletes who could compete in all elite competitions both regionally and internationally adding that the association would be monitoring the programme to ensure it produces expected results.

The association, he said, would recruit qualified coaches who would effectively train athletes and develop their talent adding that  they wanted to recruit coaches who could comply and impact a young athlete’s development not only in sport, but also in life.  Furthermore, Motswagole revealed that the association had monthly tournaments, which also contributed to the development of players. ENDS