Hardy promises wholesale basketball changes
Dumisani Ncube | Tuesday November 29, 2016 15:37
The BBA elections were held in Francistown on Saturday where Kushatha Siwawa was elected Hardy’s vice president and Thabang Maranyane is the new public relations officer. The technical director and secretary general position will be filled on December 3 during a special managers’ meeting after all the candidates for the positions were disqualified.
Hardy has promised to have basketball courts constructed since the association does not have its own facilities. Instead it has relied on the UB courts.
“I am in negotiations with a construction company that might help with the courts,” she said.
Hardy intends to monetise basketball and generate profits that will benefit the association, teams and other stakeholders.
“I have already had meetings with a number of businesses who are keen to help. I want to run the BBA profitably, as the association has experienced financial losses over the years,” she said.
The 34-year-old wants to engage legal advisors in every deal that the association enters into to avoid misunderstandings. Hardy’s strategy also involves assisting players to turn professional.
“Part of the plan is to extend the development program to primary schools. As for the national team there has to be an active program that will see the team active. If my presence does not affect the players’ growth within four years I would have failed.”
The former UB Relics player will meet her new committee after the election of the secretary general and technical director. She said the association will engage auditors to look into the previous committee’s books.
She admitted that there is a lot of work to do, saying some of the members of the previously committee had overstayed.
Hardy said this time around there is a new setup where some people might find accepting change difficult.
“I am aware that there has been an issue of saying the association has it own people but as the new committee we have an open door policy, which means we are willing to listen and talk to everyone. We are here to grow the sport,” she said.
Hardy represented Botswana at all levels since her involvement with the Under-19 in 1999. She moved on to captain the Under-20 team then to the senior team where she was captain from 2003 before she retired in 2006.