Private tertiary institutions games launched
Spira Tlhankane | Thursday September 3, 2015 14:16
Etudian Medical Aid sponsors the games with P70, 000 and also provided a car that will be used during the games.
The seventh annual games will see eight private tertiary institutions namely; Limkokwing University, ABM University College, Imperial School of Business and Science, GIPS, New Era, Botho University, Boitekanelo College and Baisago University College battle it out.
The games will be held under the theme, ‘Building future leaders through sports’ and would include various sporting codes like badminton, table tennis, football, volleyball, netball, basketball and tennis.
Officially launching the games on Tuesday, Gaborone mayor Kagiso Thutlwe applauded the students for travelling a path that has never been travelled before.
“Government institutions have coordinators, but you have managed to succeed with support and that alone is commendable,” he said to the students.
Thutlwe added that the students had managed to sail through and never gave up despite the turbulences they faced. “A lot of you have shown leadership skills at tertiary level,” he said.
“Sports is the only peaceful institution in the world and you have to keep the spirit of harmony and peace as you compete amongst each other,” he said. Thutlwe also thanked the sponsor for believing in young people.
Etudian representative, Letlhare Wastikc said they would continue to give students support as they develop into sports leaders.
He said Etudian is committed to PTIA’s ideals. “We have been providing medical student cover for tertiary students since 2010 and we believe that our clients should engage in sports to avoid visiting the doctors more often,” he said. For his part, the PTIA president, Keorapetse Setlhare said the association was formed in order to create opportunity for the private tertiary institutions to participate in sports, as they did not have facilities to participate in other platforms like BOTESSA.
“The private tertiary schools are not lucky like government schools to have sports facilities,” he expressed. He said the association still has a long way to go and remain fully committed to the course.
Setlhare said despite the challenges, PTIA had managed to organise Student Representative Council (SRC) sports management workshops facilitated by Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC).
He indicated that they have managed to attract sponsors like Vision Sports to sponsor trophies and medals.