Morule slams shoddy preparations

Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Tuesday September 2, 2014 11:01

Marumo Morule who chairs the BNOC unit responsible for preparations for major games slammed the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) for giving competitors a raw deal ahead of major events.

Speaking during the Commonwealth and Youth Olympic Games welcome ceremony on Sunday, he did not spare BNOC either. He said it was high time the tripartite system - of BNOC, BNSC and the ministry - shifted focus. He said competitors are not properly prepared ahead of major events.

He directed his remarks at the acting Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Vincent Seretse, BNSC chairperson Solly Reikeletseng, Department of Sports and Recreation director Falcon Sedimo and BNOC president Negroes Kgosietsile who were present at the event.

He said preparations come in different forms such as identifying athletes and developing them. He argued that it should not be a ‘start and stop’ process as it is the case at the moment.

“BNSC has Re Ba Bona Ha programme and you would expect athletes to be competing in various categories from that programme. We should have tangible programmes,” Morule told Mmegi Sport yesterday.

He said the programmes must be properly funded on a continuous basis because Botswana is competing against countries with well funded programmes. 

Morule said if things were done different, it was going to be easy to know where to start when athletes do not perform well.

Speaking at the welcome ceremony, Commonwealth Games chef de mission, Letsholo Letsholo said there is need for continuity. He said most countries that performed well at the games had a smooth transition from the last competition. “The countries had history from the previous games. At home, we tend to lose our athletes after competitions. As sports administrators, we should go back to the drawing board and prepare for the up coming international games next year,” said Letsholo.

Meanwhile, Seretse said Botswana made history by winning its first medals at the Africa Youth Games. Seretse showered 800m star, Nijel Amos with praises for winning gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.

“The country was also represented at the Africa Senior Athletics Championships where six medals were bagged by Amos and Isaac Makwala. The men and women 4x400m relay teams all did us proud at these competitions,” said Seretse.

He said the ability to compete against the best has given the country hope in sports. Seretse said although Botswana was unable to reach its target of seven medals at the Commonwealth Games, the performance showed a lot of potential. He said preparations for the 2014 Africa Union Sport Council Region V Under-20 Youth Games, All-Africa Games, Youth Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games all to be held in 2015 must start now.