Spanners were thrown into the works after a motion of no confidence was passed on the Tsoseletso Magang-led executive committee in August. Over the weekend, George Keotsene was voted as the new president, pulling an 8-7 victory over former vice president-administration, Ndibo Lebala. The vice president of beach volleyball is Pogiso Osupile, winning against Isaac Thenjelani and Lee Tsipana. Osupile won after four re-runs due to failure by each candidate to get more than 50% of the votes. Speaking to Sport Monitor, Keotsene said the victory is an indication that the affiliates endorsed his message of having serious conversations about where they want to go as a sport. He also said there is a need to restore volleyball to where it used to be in terms of governance and performance, both within Botswana and the region/continent. “Sponsorship is affected by many factors, including the quality of the product you are selling. We need first and foremost to focus on improving our governance structures and re-thinking our development priorities to ensure we have a sellable product on the field,” he said.
Keotsene previously served as a vice president-administration when volleyball was still led by Daniel Molaodi. After a motion of no confidence was passed, he was endorsed as interim president. When asked about where he wants to take volleyball, he explained that he had ideas that he hopes to push. “But of course I will have to share them with my team to make sure we are all aligned, then share our vision with stakeholders. Last time I was in volleyball administration, I was supporting someone else’s vision; now I get the opportunity to lead from the front and bring my own ideas and approaches to the forefront,” Keotsene said. Regarding the commencement of the league, Keotsene said they will have their first meeting this week and then discuss with affiliates on what is feasible. He also said they have to set up their operational commissions first. Other committee members are: vice president-technical: Shadrack Modiakgotla, vice president-administration: Tebogo Mogami and additional member: Andriano Mohale. Two positions of treasurer and media relations & marketing officer will be filled by the incoming committee by way of co-opting as per the BVF constitution. The filled positions will then be endorsed or changed at the next congress.
