Good times roll for Kutlwano
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday September 28, 2018 12:48
The deal has more than doubled from the first, which was worth P120,000.
Kutlwano chairperson, Solvin Sekalaba said the sponsorship is a boost ahead of the Zone VI Club Championship scheduled for November in Durban.
Botswana Volleyball Federation (BVF) is sending three clubs to the competition with Police and BDF VI men’s sides, joining Kutlwano. In the women’s section, Kutlwano, MagStimela and Mafolofolo have made it.
“Preparing for the club championship is difficult because it involves a lot of money. You find that we end up losing players to institutional teams such as Police VI, BDF VI and MagStimela because they have sufficient funding,” he said.
Sekalaba said that has forced them to come up with ways to retain players. He said they intend to acquire a clubhouse and transport for training sessions.
Kutlwano men’s team is third on the log with 50 points after 15 wins from 20 matches.
Their women counterparts are also third position and they have 38 points. The women’s side has played 14 games, winning 12 and losing two.
“Our club is focussed much on development. Each season we are looking to recruit young players. This year, we decided that we should also chase the league at the same time,” Sekalaba said.
He said when the season started it was difficult for the club because most players were out due to injuries. He said they only came back to the race in the second round.
Sekalaba said they still stand a good chance of winning the league title.
Assistant Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Dikgang Makgalemele advised Kutlwano to establish a junior volleyball programme and an academy for the youth to engage in volleyball.
“Enhancing skills training amongst coaches in local volleyball, I have no doubt that Botswana will have volleyball players that will start, not only to represent the country at the international games, but also raise the flag,” Makgalemele said.
Meanwhile, the club’s patron, Tsoseletso Magang noted that Kutlwano has produced more BVF presidents.
“It is commendable and it shows the kind of family that we are as a club. We have leadership skills here. When players leave the club, they always come back,” she said.
Magang urged the government to come to the play. She said if the benefits to the companies are not clear then there would not be any support from the private sector.
“The government must step in and support the private sector. I do not think there is any activity that brings pride to the country like sport,” she said.
Botswana National Olympic Committee chief executive officer, Tuelo Serufho said there is death of private sector participation in sport.
“In the past, we have made an observation that certain entities that operate both in South Africa and Botswana, invest more in South Africa than here. We wondered why that was happening,” he said.