Botswana produces first World Cup umpire

Lekopanye Mooketsi | Friday January 23, 2015 17:06

Botswana Netball Association (BONA) public relations officer, Kelebogile Maplanka hailed the move and said that it will not only be the official who will benefit,  but the local netball fraternity as a whole.  “We are happy with this development,” said Maplanka. 

She said the selection of Chepelo to the World Cup was long over due.  She said Chepelo has been the number one umpire in the country for a long time.  “We have been wishing that she could officiate in international competitions to gain recognition,” she said.

She added that Chepelo has always had the potential and recently, she attended a regional workshop that was geared to improve officiating in Africa. 

Maplanka said the exposure Chepelo would gain from the World Cup would lead to the improvement of the game.

 “It will assist our athletes when we have officials who have officiated at that level,” she said.

Meanwhile, although Botswana has not qualified for the World Cup, the country has been invited for the development tournament that will take place simultaneously.  Maplanka said four local netballers who left for attachment with Singapore teams this week, will form the nucleus of the team that will leave for Australia.  She said this was why some of the players were selected for the Singapore programme.