Lack of facilities haunts BNSC
Calistus Kolantsho | Thursday December 21, 2017 13:07
Volleyball games are played at the Institute of Health Sciences (IHS) Hall in Molepolole, BUAN Hall and Lobatse. The code is forced to host its games outside Gaborone as the venue fees at facilities such as Ditshupo Hall are beyond reach.
BNSC chief executive officer (CEO), Falcon Sedimo yesterday admitted that lack of facilities was a challenge especially for netball and volleyball. He said initially when the National Stadium was renovated in 2008, an indoor facility was supposed to be included but was left out due to financial constraints. Meanwhile, Sedimo said they want to come up with a proposal of changing sport development. He said that could be done in phases in order to accommodate financial challenges.
“We had the same idea back in 1995, but some people were against it. They believed that we wanted to leave out other sporting codes. If we develop in phases we can be able to deal with the issue of finances. “If we deal with a large number at the same time, money would be a challenge,” Sedimo said.
He said the government is always assisting with funding but it is not enough because there are other priorities that require funding. He said the private sector is also struggling.
“Despite all that, we achieved a lot this year especially in hosting high level events such as Netball World Youth Cup, Africa Motor Cross and World Baseball Softball Conference,” he said.
He said hosting such events is in line with BNSC’s Vision 2028. He said during the hosting, sport tourism also benefited. He said the business sector made income through accommodation, transport, and communication, amongst others.
In terms of performance, the CEO was impressed by different codes, giving an example of the karate team (Africa Championship and Zone VI), softball men’s team (XV Men’s World Softball Championship), Netball Under 21 (NWYC) and athletics, especially the women’s 4x400 relay team.
Sedimo said there are some sporting codes that are still lagging behind, but that does not mean they should be ruled out. He said they should continue working hard and should take this period as a learning curve. Sedimo said the Isaac Makwala incident during the IAAF London World Championships is water under the bridge and should be considered as a lesson.