BISA Critical Of �Poor� Botswana Games

Calistus Kolantsho | Monday December 18, 2017 15:20

 

The curtain came down on the games on Friday with a spectacular ceremony at the National Stadium. 

However, BISA spokesperson Letsweletse Jonase told Sport Monitor that the games did not produce the quality of competition one would expect. He said the games are considered to be the pinnacle of youth sport in the country, but there are a lot of grey areas that need to be attended to.

“Athletes did not have attires (playing kits). Districts failed to provide their athletes with playing kits. It was disappointing to see players putting on their schools’ kits and in some instances they wore BISA Coca Cola kits especially during football matches. That is unacceptable but then we say this is the fifth time these games are held,” said a disappointed Jonase. He said it was an eyesore to see athletes running barefooted during athletics events when it was hot.

He said athletics could have been scheduled for the evening because the organisers knew of the high temperatures. He said that compromised athletes’ health. Jonase said the games are used to select athletes to represent the country in international competitions next year, but that is not a fair criteria as some of the athletes who deserve to be in national teams did not make it, after their teams were eliminated.

Jonase said the timing of the games is wrong and needs to be looked into. He said the athletes come for the games when they are rusty because schools competitions end in August. “After the school calendar, students focus on examinations in September and October which means they do not train,” he said. “A training camp for a week is not enough to work on the athletes before Botswana Games. Their camp should be longer. That is why some of them suffered injuries.”

 Jonase said Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) needs to think about moving the games from December. He added that the mobilisation of the games was not enough because spectators did not come and watch the games in large numbers as expected. Meanwhile, the Games Organising Committee (GOC) chairperson, Bobby Gaseitsiwe said they encourage districts to borrow kits from schools. He said they cannot force them to purchase kits because it is expensive. He added that it is not a requirement.

He said the games are held in December because facilities are available at that time. “We would look into the calendar of the games as time goes on and we are open to suggestions that can improve the quality of the games,” he

said. On the athletics’ timing, Gaseitsiwe said the schedule was determined by the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) taking into consideration their timing equipment. To the contrary, Gaseitsiwe said he was impressed by the way the games proceeded. He said there were no glitches as is the case in some competitions. He said as part of diversification, the GOC introduced cultural night this year. He said sport and culture go hand in hand hence the need to introduce cultural night.

“We made a partnership with the Norwegian Olympic Committee through Safe Sport initiative. There was also training for volunteers and we partnered with University of Botswana so that we could use their Indoor Sports Arena for some games. That was a way of introducing our young athletes to the facility,” he said.

Gaseitsiwe said administrators such as coaches and technical officials from different districts assisted in making sure the smooth running of the Botswana Games without demanding payments. 

He said the government especially the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development (MYSC) played a pivotal role in funding the games. He added that the private sector has to come on board and assist in moulding future stars. “We are looking forward to the next games in 2019 in our pursuit of talent identification. Young people have the drive to and love for sport and officials are dedicated and willing to nature this talent. What is needed is the resources to ensure that we build and prepare them for the future,” Gaseitsiwe said. He said if the private sector comes to the table as they did to support the government, a lot can be done. He said this year saw the introduction of Judo as the 14th sporting code of Botswana Games.