Funding challenge hurts Special Olympics
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday June 18, 2022 06:00
The spokesperson for the movement, Lame Ramokate said funding is the albatross around the local Olympic movement's neck. “We have started engaging the private sector to support us and we have a number of fundraising activities that we will unveil in due course.
In addition, we have human resource challenges, as the office only has the national coordinator, who is responsible for administration and programme activities, with the assistance of the board and volunteers,” she said. Ramokate said they rely on the goodwill of the corporate sector to support Special Olympics athletes. She said Special Olympics are a global inclusion movement changing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities through health, education, and skills development programmes. “The Special Olympics World Games are held every four years. Athletes with intellectual disabilities compete in 26 Olympic-type summer sports.
The 2023 [Special Olympics] are scheduled for Berlin, Germany on June 17-25. The games will attract 7,000 athletes, 26 summer sports, 190 nations, 20,000 volunteers, and nine days of sport and emotions. Botswana team will compete in athletics (four athletes), unified volleyball (10 partners, 12 athletes), and bocce (two players). Ramokate said preparations for the World Championships have not started owing to the suspension of school sports. “We have made a request for a special dispensation as our athletes' qualification process is based on among other things, a minimum of eight weeks of training followed by competition at schools, regional, and national competitions.
We remain hopeful that the issue will be resolved, as failure to meet the minimum requirements may lead to the disqualification of our athletes from the World Games. You will appreciate that these are intellectually challenged athletes who need more training before they can be ready to compete.
Our coaches are ready to start training and facilitate regional and national competitions,” she said. Ramokate said just like other sporting codes, Special Olympics was hit hard by the outbreak of COVID-19. “During the restrictions, we engaged our athletes through an activity called Fit 5 cards to exercise on their own. We have since resumed our programmes and have had the family forums in Gaborone and Palapye. Meanwhile, the athlete leadership programmes coordinator at Special Olympics Botswana, Botshelo Fire Mogotsi said Special Olympics currently serves about 7,000 in seven accredited Special Olympics Botswana regions across the country. “In addition, key demographics to note are that approximately 67% of our Special Olympics athletes are of school age (eight to 21) and over 33% are adults (22 and above).
Special Olympics serve more than 1,000 in the two to seven age group. Women account for 49% of our total athlete population,” he said. Special Olympics Botswana has different programmes such as sports excellence, unified sports, building communities, family health forum, healthy athletes, youth activation, connecting fans, and funds. Mogotsi explained one of the programmes is the family health forum. He said Special Olympics Botswana provides a positive venue for families to become a caring community and to be a champion for the movement.
He said family members recruit new athletes, coach teams, transport athletes, raise funds, officiate games, chaperone events, and train other volunteers. “They serve as a source of connection for other family members of people with intellectual disabilities and increasingly are advocating the needs of their athletes,” he said.