Molaodi picks sponsorships as primary target
Calistus Kolantsho | Tuesday March 7, 2017 16:29
Speaking after earning a new four-year term at the federation’s annual general meeting on Saturday, Molaodi said his immediate challenge is to pursue sponsorship.
He said while they have engaged a consultant to find financiers, it still remains the responsibility of the committee to ensure sponsors come on board.
He said the sport should not just be in the boardroom, but be played on the courts also. He said the main target for volleyball is to have sponsorship.
“The issue of publicity and marketing is our priority area. Team sport is on the decrease in this country not on our account but because of what is going on. Volleyball is one of those team sports, which face challenges to try and convince the unconvinced. It is easy to sponsor individual sports such as karate and athletics,” he said.
Molaodi said they have a responsibility to convince people that team sport still has a place in Botswana. He said they should improve their visibility as a team sport.
Molaodi said they should come up with a way of funding volleyball. He said the dwindling funding is an advantage to individual sport, adding it is imperative that they move away from over-reliance on the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) grant.
“It is a challenge that we should undertake. Even when that grant is decreasing or non-existent, we should be able to survive,” he said.
Molaodi, who was unchallenged over the weekend, said Botswana is well known on the continent when it comes to volleyball. He said as such it was important to have many officials from Botswana serving in different continental commissions. He said having a leader who serves in continental bodies, is an advantage for Botswana. Molaodi is the vice president of African Volleyball Confederation Zone VI.
Meanwhile, he called on additional committee member, Edgar Serole who is a referee and (vice president-beach volleyball) Odirile Sibanda who is an active player to resign from their other roles. He said when people are members of the executive committee, they should not have divided loyalty. Molaodi said the player and the referee will be conflicted when it comes to doing their duties in upcoming assignments.
“When you come on board, you relinquish whatever you have been doing at club level. The referee and the player responsibilities are this side not on the other side. As a leader I am not going to compromise on that for the sake of volleyball,” Molaodi said.