Govt awards Montsho open scholarship

MOSAH MOKGANEDI
Correspondent | Monday December 13, 2010 00:00

 

The scholarship allows the athletics' star to choose the course she wants to study, the institution and the time.

The Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Shaw Kgathi said Amantle can take the scholarship when she is ready.

Kgathi made the announcement on Thursday at the Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) general assembly. He said Montsho's gold medal at the Commonwealth Games and the new record she set in the 400m has made Botswana proud. He said Montsho and her teammates have projected Botswana as a model of sports excellence. The minister promised that the government will continue to find ways of helping elite sports people to better their lives. He appealed to the business community to consider increasing their sponsorship of sport. 'I am hopeful that the private sector and other strategic partners will pay greater attention to these excellent performances and be more than willing to lend our teams support particularly in terms of sponsorship,' Kgathi said. He added that sports sell the country to the world and make investors to know Botswana. He urged sports administrators to take inspiration from the good performance on the pitch and track and work hard to achieve more. He said the good run by Botswana sportsmen and women is a challenge because they will be targeted by opponents. 'Competitors who performed better than us are anxious that we do not come anywhere near them and those that we outperformed cannot rest until they outpace us,' he explained.

Kgathi challenged the BNOC and Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) to guarantee that there is a systematic approach to talent identification and nurturing so as to produce more competitive players. Kgathi said the government is currently identifying centres of excellences to sustain and improve the country's impressive performance.