The BNSC has released a budget of P12.5 million for the Games. Addressing the media this week, BNSC chief executive officer (CEO), Tuelo Serufho said the main condition that NSAs have to fulfil is to demonstrate that they have plans for the team beyond the games in Maseru. Botswana is sending a team of 177 athletes who would be selected from athletics, athletics for the visually impaired, basketball, boxing, football, judo, netball, swimming, taekwondo, tennis and volleyball.
The team has fewer representatives than from the last two competitions hosted in Angola and Botswana respectively, where the country had more than 200 athletes. “We are moving away from an era where regional games can just be an era or a project by themselves, to one in which regional games are but a part of a long-term project for success at an international level,” Serufho said. He said, in that way, it would not seem like they are starting from scratch every time they have to prepare for major competitions such as the Olympics, World Championships, Commonwealth and African Games. “This way, every thebe that we spend in team preparations would take us further than it did in the past. We could expect results to turn for the better,” he said. Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) president, Oaitse Thipe said he was unaware of the new conditions set by the BNSC.
