We Shall Overcome - Nkala

MOSAH MOKGANEDI
Correspondent | Monday January 19, 2009 00:00

Tsoseletso Nkala said though there are many hiccups, they shall overcome some day. Her New Year's resolution is to push hard to see the league 'standing on its feet'. Nkala said she has met with a number of potential sponsors and that things are promising.

She says staring activities late in the year is going to be a thing of the past. The volleyball league has been struggling to get a sponsor in recent times and has at some point come to a standstill. After all efforts of getting a financier for the league volleyballers reached a consensus last year to embark on a non-sponsored league to keep the ball rolling. The league, however, was not successful as some teams failed to honour fixtures. It was eventually dumped along the way to make way for tournaments.

Nkala said the league would not be a continuation of last year's schedule. She said they were faced with a challenge in that most teams did not have money to travel to honour their fixtures. However, she said the dumped league helped them as the little coverage they got from it helped sell them to sponsors. 'I can promise you, this is going to be a good year for volleyball,' she said. She said the league is likely to start as early as March.

Nkala also said it was her wish that they have at least two tournaments before the league so teams could raise funds. She acknowledged that the absence of the league has affected the game. The volleyball boss added that while tournaments are as important, the league is good for the development of players as it runs for a long time.

She also expressed disappointment with some volleyball volunteers who, she said, do not understand the spirit of voluntarism. She said voluntarism is about making a difference in other people's lives. She said there is much that they still need to do to change people's mindset as far as voluntarism is concerned.'I have high dreams about volleyball and when I die I want to be remembered for the good things that I did for the sport,' Nkala said.

She added that it is also important for clubs to secure their own sponsors for tournaments, as the duty of the federation is to run the league and not tournaments.

She is also geared to start branding volleyball this year. Nkala said when she took over the presidency, there was nothing much to sell the game and now that a lot of improvement has taken place, it is time they got corporate partners.