Heavy Blow For Volleyball League
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday April 15, 2019 13:18
Back in 2017, volleyball did not have the league. It only returned last year after patron, Ian Khama came to their rescue by negotiating on their behalf with Mascom.
Botswana Volleyball Federation (BVF) president, Daniel Molaodi announced during a congress on Saturday that as it stands, volleyball does not have a league sponsor. “We are in the fourth month of the year and if we had sponsorship, we would be starting the league now.
As we speak now we do not have it and we cannot say we would have it, it is only safe to say we do not have a league this year. Our focus now from our side is on tournaments, but we are not suggesting that they have sponsors. Negotiations that we are having would focus on tournaments,” he said.
He said the marketing commission should have people who could assist in securing sponsorship. He said it should have people who are well versed in sport and not necessarily be members of volleyball. “Our advisors tell us that there are people out there like the former volleyball players, who we could handpick from to assist us to penetrate sponsorship negotiations, which are very difficult. There are barriers and some we cannot do anything about.
Around 15 companies that we spoke to say we do not have the right numbers. Some of them have contacts with reach to such numbers. Indirectly they are asking us if we can boost their businesses,” Molaodi said.
He said volleyball has quality and maybe it is something that sponsors do not see or that maybe the federations does not package it properly.
The announcement was met with disappointment by affiliates who felt robbed. Mafolofolo chairperson, Ikageng Seloi said maybe volleyball does not have the quality that makes potential sponsors happy.
He said maybe it was time the Federation retraced its steps back to 2011 and see how they did things. Seloi said at the moment volleyball is unattractive.
“I feel that from 2011 to today, there is something that we are not doing right as the management to help the executive. How are we going to have the national team without the league? We have created monsters of our players. Those who are called at the national team are monsters at club level. We have players at Mafolofolo who are known as national team players,” he said.
Seloi said BVF should forget about the senior national team and focus on development. He said they should ask to be recused from continental championships. He said the focus should also be on clubs because they are not growing.
“League sponsorship does not make players. They are demoralised at club level and it is up to us to bring back the passion of sport,” Seloi said.