Namibia Calls Off Friendly Last Minute
Kabelo Boranabi | Monday September 26, 2016 15:05
“As the boxing family we are very disappointed that Namibia could not honour our invitation as they agreed to. They cancelled in the last minute on Thursday evening. We really wanted this friendly as we have started our preparations for the Commonwealth Games,” Botswana Boxing Association (BoBA) public relations officer, Kenny Maragana told Sport Monitor on Saturday.
For his part the national team coach, Lechedzani ‘Master’ Luza could not hide his disappointment.
He said the team needs international exposure to gauge their readiness. “We were looking forward to the friendly, but after they cancelled the morale in the camp went down. But since they were interclub bouts, we asked that they be matched with the best boxers in their categories.
We need more friendlies not just in the region but also across Africa. This could help our boxers going forward,” he said. He however said he was impressed with the performance of the boxers who participated in the tournament. “The boxers did well; we have been in camp for the past two weeks where we have been trying to work on some of our weak links. It is unfortunate that now the camp is over but I will try to talk to their respective club coaches that they continue with the programme,” he said.
Luza also showed his delight in the growth of the junior team boxers who were in camp preparing for the African Union Sports Commission (AUSC) Region Five competition to be held later this year. “I think having a joint camp helped the youngsters as it has instilled some confidence in them. They now believe they can match their senior counterparts. I think in future we should have more camps of this nature,” he said.