Around 50 athletes turn up for Squash day
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday February 6, 2023 16:50
Around 50 athletes turned up for the training that was conducted by Dreadsports managing director, Lefika Ragontse and his locally-based understudy, Condrad Ntshebe.
Other local Squash coaches were also taken through the ropes. Ragontse, who is the founder of Dreadsports in United States of America (USA), said it was a slow start and it was what he expected.
He said despite that, the players were encouraged and they seemed excited. “This means even at school they will take their education seriously because they now know the kind of opportunities that awaits them. I was impressed by the attendance of the kids but I was disappointed by the parents’ attendance. I have been thinking that I wanted to teach children, not knowing that I should focus on the parents,” he said.
Ragontse added that local players must know that they are equal to other players from other countries. He said that is one thing that is killing performance, when players come from outside, locals feel they are better than them which is wrong. He said that happens all over the place even at employment level, outsiders get better preference. “Even myself, when I go out there I work hard to make sure that I reach the same level as them. I am not only talking about Squash, but even in business the same concept applies,” he said.
Ragontse said the project has been ongoing away from the public and it is only now that it has been made public. He said they have been doing it without talking to anyone and ready to embrace people from outside. Ragontse said he is also working with Squash Africa and they will host their first tournament in Botswana in April. “Our players will now start training knowing that there is a league that is coming. The games will be played here then move to other countries,” he said.
Regarding coaches, Ragontse said there is a lot of work to be done to assist them because they are still behind in terms of development. He said Ntshebe is the only one on a higher level because he travels a lot and even did Level One coaching course in Europe. “We must show the youth how to win, I know how to win and I will make them winners. Since having players and Condrad coming to the USA, I realised how much that made a difference,” he said. One of the players, Eliot Sibanda told Sport Monitor that he was happy with what he learnt during the one-day training. He said to it was an opportunity for everyone to develop their skills. Sibanda said as a senior team player, he also has a role to play in grooming youngsters. “I want an opportunity to play abroad especially to the USA. If I can just train there for a few months, that will be great,” Sibanda said.