The competition is scheduled for April 1–14 in Abuja, Nigeria. The championship will be used as the continental qualifier for the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) 2025 Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship. Now the club requires P450,000 to make the trip to Nigeria. “Transport from here (Gaborone, Botswana) to the venue of the tournament is around P240,000, but to cut costs, we have secured a partner to transport us from Gaborone to OR Tambo International Airport and back. We are busy going around seeking sponsorship from the private sector but it is not easy,” Spiking Stars chairperson, Dikgang Kgosane said. Kgosane explained that they are interested in playing in the 2025 Women’s African Volleyball Club Championship because they want to uplift the standard of volleyball in Botswana and the region.
He said they want to showcase the talent that the country has and provide opportunities for young athletes. “Exposing our athletes to such also helps them to grow both personally and motivates them to see sport as a career. It is our desire to have athletes on the international stage,” he said. Kgosane said his club has adopted the concept of thinking globally and that is exactly what they are doing. He said the exposure will immensely benefit Spiking Stars players and open opportunities for them. “The exposure to a professional setup will assist us to improve locally. As a team, we will grow and maybe bring professionalism to the sport. We will be looking to make lasting relationships with other clubs,” he said.
Kgosane said at the moment there is no assistance from the Botswana Volleyball Federation (BVF) for the club to reach Abuja. “Nonetheless we are continuing to have a dialogue with them to see how they can assist. We understand that our National Federations do not have resources to perhaps assist financially but their support goes a long way in providing a platform to engage with many stakeholders. Their role is to provide support, information, guidance, and engage with other bodies to garner support,” Kgosane said. Spiking Stars coach, Lee Tshipana, said training for the competition started on Wednesday. Regarding the conditioning of the players, Tshipana said they would be conducting some exercises in the gym. “The earlier we prepare, the better. We need to make sure that the players can withstand the type of training they will receive. It is not going to be easy to compete against clubs that have a strong technical bench. Such a bench is able to collect team statistics, player attendance, team strategies and that is not an easy thing for us to do,” he said.
Tshipana said they will give out the best performance on the court. He added that before departure, the plan is to practice many tactics to be able to withstand the demands of the tournament.
