01 Jun 2026

Investing in emerging talent from an early age is critical in driving a new era of development and sustainability in football, says Botswana national team football coach, Morena Ramoreboli.

Launching the new kid on the block, Lobatse based First Touch Football Academy on Friday, Ramoreboli said valuable football assets were better groomed from an early age.

He said early childhood development will provide a steady stream of young, talented players to the national team.

Ramoreboli said First Touch Football Academy provided an opportunity for young players to cultivate their talent and become better footballers and better people.

“Strong national teams are built through proper development structures, good coaching or support. If we want our football to grow and compete at the highest level, we must invest in young players from an early age. We have realised the importance of having them early so that we give them that international experience,” he said.

He said a football academy will help create a solid foundation for the future of Botswana football.

He thus emphasised the role played by parents in development of their children as having talent alone was not enough.

“Young players need encouragement, guidance, love, and support from home as parents play a key role in helping children to remain focused, disciplined and motivated,” he said.

First Touch Football Academy director, Thebolo Teemane said the aim was to develop football talent at grass roots level to maximise their performance through structured, well designed football coaching programmes.

He said the academy primarily target at identifying and grooming talent to complement government efforts of reinstating sport in public schools.

Teemane said the academy focused on developing children (both girls and boys) in the age group of 6-17 years with a vision to cultivate soccer talent.

Teemane said the academy has put together the necessary human resource as well as the training material. “We are boasting of four experienced coaches, a goal keeper coach, legal expert and experienced football administrators,” he said.

BFA grass root development programme officer, Tiroyamodimo Kgabeng said grassroots football development was the foundation upon which future players and leaders of tomorrow were developed.

He said BFA’s vision for grassroots football was to give every child an opportunity to discover and develop their talent regardless of their background.

“As we continue to strengthen our grassroots programmes such as Re Ba Bona Fa we must improve standards at our sectors and ensure quality development pathway for both boys and girls,” he said.

He said BFA recognised the role played by development centres in shaping football by providing opportunities for young players. He added that the BFA supported such initiatives as they complimented their efforts in building the future of Botswana football.

Botoka Ward Councillor, Onneetse Kagiso said, ‘for us to be successful as a nation we need to start laying the foundation at grassroots level.’

Additionally, he said the development will further address the challenge of emerging social ills amongst the youth such as alcohol and drug abuse as it will keep them meaningfully engaged in sports. ends