BCF is the newest kid the block in the local sporting fraternity, however, struggling to be registered as a full affiliated member of the sports commission. Speaking to Mmegi Sport, BCF president Neo Selwe said it has come as a shock to the federation as they have submitted the relevant paperwork at BNSC, but still cannot acquire full membership. She said the federation has long registered at the Registrar of Societies as per requirements by the BNSC, but they are still going back and forth to get their full membership.
"We have long submitted at BNSC. That was at the beginning of 2018. We presented to the board some months later but still, we are yet to get full membership. They wanted some documentation including annual returns from the Registrar of Societies, we submitted those and even more. We are in the dark as to why they cannot give us full membership. They responded that the (BCF) needed to be orientated first, but we have passed that stage and we are still awaiting answers on why we are yet to get a full membership. The other issue was that we had to meet a certain number of clubs, and then we had only four clubs they have since increased to 10," Selwe said. She added after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved cheerleading as an Olympic sport they have hoped that the process would be swift. Selwe said the federation has now since been approved as a member of the Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC).
"What is surprising is that we submitted at the BNOC a year later after submitting at BNSC. It was announced at last week's BNOC annual meeting that we got a membership and the BNOC wanted the same documents as the BNSC affiliation. It affects us a lot. At the moment we are struggling with funds, but we cannot source funds from the private sector since we are not an affiliated member of the BNSC. The other thing is we need to take the sport to the people, to the young kids, but this is all difficult at the moment since we are not a member."
To source comment from the BNSC, Mmegi Sport was directed to the chief executive officer Tuelo Serufho, but he did not respond to the questionnaire at press time. Meanwhile, Selwe has said the developments have not deterred the federation on working on improving the sport locally. Recently, the BCF held a workshop on equipping coaches and judges to meet international standards.
