BAA acquires P6m timing equipment
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday February 16, 2026 09:02
BAA sport development manager (technical), Patrick Moesi, told MmegiSport that the equipment costs close to P6 million.
He said the new equipment will improve the quality of BAA events because they have been relying on old system procured during the 2014 Africa Youth Games.
Moesi revealed, however, the new timing equipment will not be used during the World Athletics Relays. The World Athletics Relays timing partner is Seiko.
“There are many various equipment systems in the world, such as Omega and Seiko. TimeTronics is commonly used in Africa because of affordability and the fact that we have built capacity around it,” Moesi explained.
Moesi said they now have a complete set of equipment with all components to replace some that were no longer working in the old timing equipment.
He noted that the new FAT will enable Botswana to produce results that are world-class and consistent with what is happening in other countries.
“TimeTronics has dispatched a technical team to conduct two comprehensive training sessions aimed at fully capacitating our officials to operate and manage the new system independently,” Moesi said.
“The first training session took place at the National Stadium, Gaborone. The training culminated in the practical deployment of the system during the BAA Track and Field Series Two scheduled for tomorrow at Obed Itani Stadium in Francistown. We have kept the same team that were partially trained in 2014, and complemented them with additional personnel drawn from referees, BAA staff members and former athletes and incorporated others to build a bigger team.”
Moesi said in future they might even be able to host events simultaneously, hence the need to train more officials.
He added that the first person to do timing in Botswana was the current BAA manager-sport administration, Legojane Kebaitse and then Tshepo Kelaotswe, who has been the chief timer for a long time.
TimeTronics managing director, Kim Peeters, said the experience of the officials made it easy to bring them to a higher level. He said they will conduct the second training in March before the BAA national championships.
“What makes us different is that we give support to our clients after purchasing our equipment, so that they can use it on their own,” Peeters said.
“The new equipment has better resolution, better sensitivity, combined with video integration, not only to see the side of the athlete but even the front of the athlete,” he added.