Netball league kicks off despite glitches
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday June 18, 2022 06:00
The clubs wrote to the Botswana Netball Association (BONA) executive committee on June 7 indicating they held a meeting following the mother body's announcement about the commencement of the league. “After a lengthy deliberation on the matter, the southern zone teams request BONA to postpone the start of the league.
The zone believes that it is crucial that the sponsor be given the well-deserved mileage in appreciation of their sponsorship,” the letter reads in part. Clubs further told the executive committee in the letter that the request for postponement requires that all the merchandise required by the sponsor should be in place by the time the league starts and to ensure that BONA has secured all the necessary branding for the clear visibility of the sponsor. “The southern zone teams noted that even though teams are responsible for their funding in order to participate in the BONA activities, it has been the practice that teams receive grants from the association to be able to participate,” the letter further reads.
Responding to the clubs, BONA secretary-general, Mmaneke Maplanka ruled out postponement. “It cannot be postponed on the basis of reasons presented in the communiqué by yourself. Postponement of the league would not give the sponsor the much-desired mileage,” BONA response reads. The southern zone and BONA held an emergency meeting on Tuesday.
According to the minutes of the meeting, the association informed the zone that they do not agree to league postponement. The committee said they have negotiated with the sponsor to start the league while still awaiting procurement of merchandise. “There is no precedence set for grants to clubs for a long time. BONA has not been giving clubs grants except for 2018 when Spar Botswana offered a grant. The reason for giving grants instead of prize money was that they were not pleased to award prize money to the same clubs every year,” the minutes read. The minutes from the meeting said BONA was still awaiting the northern zone to account for mini-league funds and submit the budget for them to be able to finalise the breakdown for the prize money. The clubs were informed that after the process has been finalised that is when the breakdown will be done. BONA informed the clubs that branding will be from the league sponsor.
BONA public relations officer, Mokeresete Mokeresete told Mmegi Sport that preparations for the league have been finalised. He said both zones have secured venues for all the games for both the first and second rounds. When asked about the kit, Mokeresete said the procurement process for the participating teams is being handled. He said all the 21 teams would receive their kits once production is completed. Meanwhile, Mokeresete said the league will play a major role in assisting with the physical fitness of the national team as they prepare for the World Cup qualifiers. Mokeresete said they have a plan for the team’s preparation for the qualifiers. He said the final training camp ahead of the qualifiers is scheduled for August 1-17 and the qualifiers are set for August 18-30 in Cape Town, South Africa.