BVF president impressed with volleyball standards
Calistus Kolantsho | Wednesday November 23, 2016 15:49
Police VI and Mafolofolo have been crowned champions in their respective leagues, but other positions on the logs have not been determined.
Molaodi said there is still a fierce battle amongst other teams to finish in a respectable position. Molaodi said the improvement of the status in the league will aid the quality of the national teams. The league registered upsets, with Dynamites in particular, having a tremendous run, which the president said, was a historic moment where small teams competed fiercely with established powerhouses. Dynamites registered their first victory against Kutlwano and BDF VI. ‘The Big House’ had a rough season suffering punishment for fielding a defaulter in Tracy Chaba. The former champions also finished the league without their versatile captain, Tebogo Sejewe who was sidelined through injury. BDF VI were expected to be a force to reckon with after signing some of the big names at the beginning of the season.
On the men’s side, the arrival of Tjiyapo Madeluka at Police VI saw the side ending their league championship drought. Kutlwano men’s team also had a tough season, failing to defend their title. The side has accumulated 55 points after 21 matches while Police VI is firmly at the top with 61 points after playing the same number of matches.
Molaodi said the league programme went according to plan, with the awards, to be held at a date to be confirmed, bringing the curtain down on the 2016 season.
However, Molaodi said they experienced challenges with venues with the unavailability of courts at the Molepolole Institute of Health Sciences and Otse Police College.
“We were left with only Lobatse Sports Complex, Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN) and in the north we played our games in Serowe. Despite that, we utilised what we had to finish the season on time. We have just been permitted to use Molepolole,” he said.
Molaodi said some games especially women’s games were behind schedule due to the participation of the Under-23 team in the 2016 Africa Nations Championship that was held in Nairobi, Kenya. He said the games were played last weekend, adding that for the first time, women games were played over two days.
He said BVF’s deal with sponsors, Mascom does not include the cost of the administration of the league. He said the federation had to come up with ways of sourcing administration funds. He said the grant reduction by the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) also had an impact. He said BVF had to pay allowances for officials almost every weekend.
Weekend fixtures for matches to be played in Molepolole on Saturday:
Women: Spiking Stars vs Mag Stimela; Kalavango vs Dynamites and Kutlwano vs Mafolofolo.
Men: Kutlwano vs Police; Kalavango vs Mafolofolo and BDF VI vs Spiking Stars.