Two Ministries Cooperate To Groom Talent

FREDERICK KEBADIRETSE
Staff Writer | Monday July 12, 2010 00:00

 

Sports Minister, Shaw Kgathi, made the announcement at the sending-off ceremony for the team bound for Morocco for the inaugural African Youth Games. He said they are currently trying to identify government schools, which will serve as mini-academies for various sporting codes. The schools will admit pupils who show great potential in sports.

'We will be admitting all talented athletes at particular schools to minimise calling them to training camps hence they will be involved in continuous training throughout,' Kgathi said.

 He said the initiative would help in grooming talent because the athletes will have ample time to develop as a unit. He added that the athletes would be exposed to top level coaching and infrastructure.

Coaches have faced problems when they call school-going youth to training camps because of interference with the school programme. This has forced them to use school holidays for training camps, though this is inadequate and denies the youngsters time to rest.

The idea of admitting students who excel in sport to one school was tried with soccer at Artesia Junior Secondary School but was discontinued because of lack of funds. The Botswana Football Association (BFA) has since launched the Football Development Appeal (FODA) to raise funds to build soccer academies around the country. The association continues to struggle to groom talent through its 'Re Ba Bona Ha' youth development programme. Some say the programme was doomed for failure due to inadequate time for training camps. The camps are held in various places once in a while during school holidays.

Meanwhile, development coaches have welcomed the new initiative announced by the government to admit pupils or students excelling in sports to certain schools saying it will help groom talent.

Healer Modiradilo, the development officer at the Botswana Boxing Association (BoBA) said it will enhance the monitoring of athletes from a young age and strike a balance between academic development and sport.

Senior sports development officer at the Botswana Volleyball Federation (BVF), Mission Mereyotlhe said they have been waiting for the initiative. He said they find it difficult to groom talent as youngsters are scattered all over the country and it is difficult and sometimes impossible to find a suitable time to gather them for training camps.