Rollers' Soccer Queens Set To Go Places - Coach

By Mosah Mokganedi
Correspondent | Monday February 11, 2008 00:00

Rollers joined the league at the beginning of the current season and have not been doing too badly for newcomers.

They are currently sixth out of 10 teams in the log standings with 15 points. Odisitse expressed satisfaction at his girls' general performance. The team lost five of the nine games played in the first half and to boost the squad, Rollers signed on three new players during the just-ended transfer window.

Odisitse says presently his intention is to build the team and winning the league title is not his priority.'You can not be expected to bring big results when you are a starter,' he said. However, Odisitse's aspiration is to finish among the top four but this might be unachievable because some of his players still do not understand the difference between playing in a league and doing so for pleasure. Additionally, Odisitse observed that there is still much to be done to take Botswana women's football to a higher level. He said the game is not taken seriously, as people still do not believe that women can do it in the men's domain. He described poor officiating at women's matches as a morale-killer. He expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of referees that are normally assigned to officiate at women games.

The Rollers mentor alleged that the referees' commission has a tendency of assigning raw referees to women's games. Odisitse pleaded with the commission to consider sending skilled officials to the games. He said the game was also faced with shortage and sub-standard playing fields. Additionally, the game is faced with lack of sponsorship. Odisitse observed that until the game was taken seriously, it would continue to suffer.

He believes with financial backup, they can make it. He said the lack of sponsors is a great cause for concern as most players quit when their expectations are not fulfilled. He observed that the situation has proven taxing for team officials who have to always talk to players in a bid to convince them to stay. He assured everyone that his team would continue to look for sponsors. Women football league committee member Agreement Podi concurred with Odistse that some times unqualified referees officiate women's games but pointed out that he did not find anything wrong with that.

He said they understood that officials were not enough. Podi said in some cases a mixture of qualified and trainee referees are assigned to handle women's matches. Referees commission secretary-general Harris Lebotse said he was not aware that women's football had a problem with the referees, as they had never complained to him. However, he confirmed that they do assign trainee referees not only to women's games but to other lower division games as well.