MYAA to feature celebs in basketball tourney

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Friday March 26, 2010 00:00

 

The facilities at Mma-Masire Grounds run at  The Botswana National Youth Centre (BNYC) are using the basketball tourney to showcase the facilities and want young people to know that they are freely available for use. They include football, volleyball, basketball, aerobics and gyms.  There are also counselling services and sexual reproductive health centres. Mma-Masire Grounds serve as the headquarters of BNYC. YOGO, a young people's HIV/AIDS information dissemination NGO, is also located here. The basketball tournament is part of the Gaborone region's Month of Youth Against AIDS (MYAA) activities. It is sponsored by BPOMAS, Metropolitan Life, Kika Printers and Creative Business Solutions, among others.

Some of the celebrities to feature in the tournament include movie star and television personality Ntsoro and beauty queen Malebogo Marumoagae. House kwasa star Vee and rapper VS of O Icheke fame have also confirmed their participation,   as has Duma FMs' Morning Show co-host Moses Maruping aka Rude Boy Necta.RB2 will also have its own basketball team made up of Lady of Soul Tebogo Ragontse, K-Love, T.H.A.B.O., Pauline, DJ O'Neal and Prince. On-the-spot entertainment will be provided by djs Sly, Sid and O'Neal.

A  tussle between top senior secondary school basketball sides Gaborone Secondary School and St Joseph's College will decide who will take on the winner between and celebrities later in the day, says organiser Thabiso Nasha.

'This event is part of the MYAA campaign for the Gaborone region,' he says. 'The aim is to heighten awareness among the youth about available recreational facilities at the Botswana National Youth Council. The BNYC also has a national Youth Centre, which can be accessed by any youth to empower themselves about reproductive health issues.  'There is also an office there for YOHO, a youth HIV NGO that has many health programmes the youth can take advantage of to arm themselves against HIV/AIDS, and fight social ills like alcohol abuse.' Nasha adds the basketball players will make personal pledges on how they intend to personally contribute to reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS. RB2 will cover the event live while a clip will be shown on Btv afterwards. There is as dangling carrot of P500 for anyone who shoots into the net from the halfway mark.

Organisers have made an effort to make the day appealing to children with candy floss, jumping castles and plenty of snacks.  'We want them to come in large numbers to hear the pledges that these role models make concerning sexual behaviour and to see for themselves the recreational facilities they can take advantage of at the centre,' Nasha said. BNYC leader Fidelis Molao and RB2 General Manager, Lesole Obonye, will make short, sharp and snazzy speeches.