Rugby season extension mulled to woo sponsors
Calistus Kolantsho | Wednesday January 25, 2017 16:23
BRU secretary general, Ernest Mantsi told Mmegi Sport yesterday that the changes would see the rugby season extended to 12 months. He said the idea is meant to attract sponsors.
Mantsi said at the moment the union is struggling to find sponsorship and the duration of the league might be one of the obstacles. He said potential sponsors might be feeling that the period of the league is not long enough to give them the much-needed milage.
“We are yet to present the idea to our affiliates and we are hopeful that it would be given the green light. It is high time we do things in a different way. The world of sport is growing and we should follow trends. It is the only way we could attract sponsorship. You must realise that the season is also disrupted by national team activities,” he said.
Mantsi said BRU has set up a task force mandated with finding league sponsorship. He said the task force is expected to give the executive feedback on the progress.
“We are struggling to run our operations with only the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) grant. We also have to use the grant to assist in school rugby. Last year we received around P750,000, which is less than what we need. You must be aware that the figure keeps changing every year. We might get less in the coming financial year,” Mantsi added.
Mantsi said the season is expected to kick-off on the first weekend of March. He said before the season starts, the union would have held its annual general meeting in February.
He said it is the first meeting since the new executive committee led by Dave Gilbert took office last year.
He said the agenda for the meeting is still being drafted, but some of the items that are expected to be discussed include the BRU development programme and Olympic qualifiers preparations.
Meanwhile, Mantsi said clubs are also struggling to find sponsors. He said that has led to some clubs failing to fulfil fixtures. Mantsi said the union intends to assist clubs market themselves.