TK unimpressed with running of sport
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday August 16, 2019 12:23
Khama said he had made his displeasure known to the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) chief executive officer Falcon Sedimo. “I am not happy with what we do for sport. We need to do things a lot professional than how it is at the moment. We have continued this route for long.
That is going to be contained in the document we are submitting to government,” he said. Khama was speaking during the 2019 African Games team send-off ceremony yesterday. The African Games start in Rabat, Morocco on Monday, and the country has sent 98 athletes and 36 officials.
Khama said together with his assistant, Phillip Makgalemele, they are working on submitting a document to President Mokgweetsi Masisi on how to support the youth holistically.
“It has not been easy. It is a difficult task because we are asking for a mindset change. Sometimes it seems to be the older you get, the difficult it gets to change your mind,” he said.
Khama said the youth is the best natural resource that the country has. He said Botswana has a population that is manageable and countries in the region can benchmark here, not the other way round. The chef de mission, Bobby Gaseitsiwe said they are sending a youthful team to the games with the youngest being 14-years-old.
“We are going there to compete and not participate. We had sufficient time to prepare and we would not have excuses that we did not prepare well,” he said. During the 2015 games that were held in Congo Brazzaville, Botswana finished in position 14 with 15 medals (three gold, three silver and nine bronze).
Botswana has sent representatives in athletics, boxing, weightlifting, karate, chess, taekwando, volleyball, judo, swimming, tennis and cycling.