It�s no longer business as usual at BFA
Dennis Keagile | Friday August 14, 2015 13:35
He has been in sport management for almost his entire life and should be a cut above the rest. While at the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC), he steered the organisation away from unnecessary controversy and indiscipline. In fact, one of the major problems for the BFA secretariat has been lack of discipline where leakage of confidential information has been done with impunity. ‘KK’ as Kemoeng is popularly known, has already suspended two senior managers, Philemon Makhwengwe and technical director, Ben Kgomela pending a disciplinary hearing. Kgomela is not new to controversy as this is his second suspension while that of Makhwengwe is a bit surprising. Although Makhwengwe is an outspoken person, he has managed to steer clear of controversies surrounding the association.
My worry though is about Kgomela. Since his appointment there have been a lot of fights where he has been implicated. Perhaps what the staff at the BFA secretariat ought to know is that unlike before, it will have to toe the line. It cannot be business as usual anymore as ‘KK’ is under pressure to restore the image of the association’s secretariat, which has in the past largely underperformed. Having successfully led the BNSC secretariat where he served under different chairpersons and football being his first love, he would not like to disappoint the soccer fraternity.
Perhaps he can instil that sense of professionalism and discipline within his team, but he cannot do it alone. What he needs is the total backing of the executive, which for long now has displayed signs of amateurism that spawned indiscipline and schisms. The fact that for long the association has been operating without two of its senior members; the vice president (administration) and the vice president (technical), is illustrative of the problems the association has encountered.
Now the suspension of Makhwengwe and Kgomela who are senior members of the technical wing of the association is an indication that for long, the association has been on auto pilot.
Perhaps the secretariat ought to go on a team building exercise so that it can re-align itself for the betterment of the association.
beMOBILE Premiership
The 2015-16 beMOBILE Premiership ensued on a high note as blood rivals and the pre-season bookmakers’ favourites, Mochudi Centre Chiefs and Township Rollers started well.
Chiefs posted five goals past BR Highlanders while Rollers hammered BDF XI 4-1, probably the weekend highlight. Already, I can smell the adrenalin within the two club’s camps and we could be in for a long ding dong affair. Given the signings that Rollers made, they are the odds on favourite for anyone to beat especially that they have an English coach in Mark Harrison. But knowing Chiefs, the events at Rollers could motivate them further. Rollers are spoilt for choice especially upfront. With the signing of former captain Joel ‘Spitfire’ Mogorosi, the team will definitely be quite a handful.
My advise to the other clubs will be for them to up their fitness levels. When you face a team boasting such quality, the best one can to do is to match them in terms of physical strength. Generally, Botswana teams do not take fitness seriously perhaps due to the fact that clubs do not conduct rigorous scientific fitness tests. Just recently, a colleague of mine likened Rollers to a toy to its director Jagdish Shah. A toy in the sense that given the multi -millionaire businessman’s financial position, the club is not much of headache to him, hence the multiple signings of high quality and experienced players.
But like it is said, too much of anything is not good. These could disturb the team spirit. In the goalkeeping department and upfront, the coach can just blindly pick and choose as the players are on the same level in terms of quality.
Yes it is good to sign players, but I would be more than happy if Rollers were to have its own little stadium that can say hold up to 8,000 spectators. This is the area where our clubs are sorely lacking and this is compromising the growth and advancement of these clubs. Night training is still not much of an option for clubs in Botswana. The other challenge is that of the medical commission. It is another area that needs scrutiny. For Chiefs this is a big test to its credentials as far as defending the title is concerned. There is no doubt that Rollers want to wrestle the title from its bitter rivals, which since 2009 has always been exchanged between the two clubs.
With such a start it means that attendance at stadia will be high as supporters will pay a significant part in motivating their players. Surely, the sponsor will get value for money and people can brace for some controversies as well. The likes of Rahman Gumbo has to come to the party otherwise he will be put under great scrutiny. As for the relegation, it is still quite open for anyone, but it was a great start for Serowe’s Green Lovers. Their win last weekend can only improve the confidence of the team.