Judo blames BNSC after dismal show
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday August 23, 2019 11:42
The team arrived back home on Wednesday after the judokas failed to progress further in the competition. Team manager, Gaongalelwe Morris said they did not get an opportunity to train outside the country.
“We requested BNSC to fund our team to travel to Europe because all along we have been competing against other African countries and we know each other. We could not use our grant because it was not enough,” she said.
Morris said the judo team did not get intensive training before travelling to Morocco.
She said they had planned to travel to Zambia for training, but it was late as the team was instructed to go into camp at Oasis Motel in Tlokweng.
“Small things can affect an athlete. In Morocco there was no support, I was alone in the stands. We met tough opponents who had prepared well for the competition,” said Morris.
Judo assistant coach, Kgosipula Kaupa said he was disappointed by the performance of the team.
“The team was not properly prepared for the competition. We had trained here and never got a chance to test our mettle outside. African Games bring the best from the continent and we should be at the same level with our opponents,” he said.
Kaupa said the challenge they had was lack of funds as their request was declined by the BNSC. He said the commission does not treat codes equally.
“They only assist codes that put pressure on them, but us who do not apply pressure we are on the losing side,” he added.
African Games chef de mission, Bobby Gaseitsiwe told Mmegi Sport that it is a pity that judo feels betrayed but BNSC treated all codes the same.
Gaseitsiwe said the BNSC had requested codes to submit their proposals and they were funded. He stated that judo was allocated training funds and BNSC did not stop them from going to train anywhere they wanted.
“I understand some of their top athletes were eliminated in the first round like Edwin Sello, who recently qualified for Tokyo 2020. We were informed that he did not train properly due to school commitments,” he said.
Sello and Thato Lebang have left for the World Championship in Japan.
“They are elite athletes and we must take them to high level competitions, which include Grand Slams and Grand Prix. It is a way of improving their rankings,” said Kaupa.