Olympics fundraising drive slows down
Mqondisi Dube | Friday June 11, 2021 13:27
The Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) initiated a fundraising campaign in April 2019 meant to assist the team to prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games.
The SMS donation campaign had targeted raising P5 million, but a member of the marketing and communication committee, Billy Sekgororoane admitted the process has not gone as expected.
Although he did not divulge figures, Sekgororoane said the campaign had slowed down due to the COVID-19 disruption.
He said when the campaign started, there was scepticism with the public, untrusting. “We set out to fund-raise for the team, but COVID affected our plans.
We started the SMS campaign, but the public thought we would misappropriate the funds. They thought the money would be used to fund officials going to the Olympic Games.
But for our athletes to compete, they need to be adequately funded,” Sekgororoane told journalists during a media engagement session in Gaborone this week.
He said local athletes are underfunded but are expected to compete with the world’s top athletes. “Our Makwalas compete with athletes who are well resourced. Our athletes compete at the top, but they do not have resources. For them to bring medals, they should compete at the same level as their counterparts,” he said. “We can’t compete if we don’t fund athletes. We need the media’s support in terms of funding,” Sekgororoane added.
He told Mmegi Sport there was a need for sponsorship for the athletes. He said they cannot rely on government funding all the time to prepare the team. BNOC president, Botsang Tshenyego said fundraising initiatives allow Batswana to contribute to the team.
“There is some movement, there is some traction. There is money (that has been) raised. We are not doing well, but there have been some resources raised. I can’t say what a sustainable strategy is.
Today we will think differently depending on the situation. There are so many moving parts,” he told Mmegi Sport. He said the target of two medals still stands. Botswana has one Olympic Games medal won by Nijel Amos in 2012.
Tshenyego, in his speech, said despite the trying times, BNOC had managed to make notable strides. “Our organisation is at its most transformative in its 40 years of existence when most organisations have cited COVID-19 as a reason to slip into paralysis.
Many of our organisation’s development initiatives have been initiated and executed during the so-called new normal,” Tshenyego said.
Acting BNOC chief executive officer, Wedu Moswetla said preparations for the Tokyo Olympic Games were going well. In a speech read on her behalf during the media engagement session, Moswetla said the BNOC continues to support athletes in their quest to qualify for the Olympics.