At the end of May, doomsayers were within their rights to predict a bleak future for Popa outside their ‘Mr Moneybag’, Jagdish Shah.
But the club has shown sheer will and determination to succeed amid a difficult operating environment for most football sides. Supporters are scattered all over the country but the biggest challenge has been to pull them to the stadia.
Even the Zebras has not drawn an impressive crowd in recent times like what was seen on Saturday. It was a beautiful spectacle to watch even on television. So there could be an answer for the Botswana Football League (BFL) that has been crying for the return of fans to stadiums. Granted, Rollers has been aided by the ‘sympathy vote’ after parting with Shah, with the club gaining extra impetus to prove doubters wrong. In the process, they have pushed all the way and upped their marketing game.
It is paying off and it will not be a surprise to see the rise of the blue machine in the new season after an underwhelming 2022/2023 campaign. All clubs should follow in the footsteps of Rollers, even their fierce rivals; there is nothing wrong with copying what is good for the game. With Gaborone United, Rollers, Galaxy and Orapa United the perennial title challengers, the new season should be exhilarating. What is left is for the BFL to reciprocate with the right administration mix. We hope sponsorship deals will be announced soon, so that the league expels the curse of playing without a title sponsor.
Of an outdated incentive policy
The last week was dominated by Letsile Tebogo’s continued rise as a genuine world class talent. The 20-year-old chose the same city (London) where Nijel Amos took the country’s first ever Olympic medal, to show what the world and Africa is about to witness. Tebogo smashed a long-standing 200m Africa record to send an unambiguous message that he is among the emerging crop that can be counted among the heirs to the sprints throne. While the cherry on top was supposed to be a handsome handshake, Tebogo emerged with nothing from his home country.
For such a feat, one would have expected Tebogo’s bank balance to bulge but, alas, he has nothing, thanks to an incentive policy out of touch with reality. Policies should be regularly reviewed and it is baffling how the 2012 document still has such glaring gaps. In fact, this was supposed to be picked from the onset; it doesn’t even need a review. If I am not mistaken it was reviewed, but those who did the review did not pick the anomaly.
A record is a record even if it is achieved in a solo bush run, as long as it is recognised by the World Athletics. Then who will be the Botswana National Sport Commission not to recognise, in its statutes, such an achievement. I must add that the introduction of the incentive policy was a great step in the right direction, as before then, there was a haphazard approach to rewarding athletes. Now, take that document back to the drawing board and further panel-beat it.
