04 Nov 2021

Enhancing sports structures could advance local sports performance at all competition levels.

The Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development made this observation during a consultative meeting with National Sport Associations (NSAs), on Wednesday in Gaborone.

Minister Tumiso Rakgare said lack of funding and facilities was not entirely to blame for poor performance, which he attributed it to poor planning, absence of collaboration and cooperation among sport structures.

“If we could work on our structures, performances of local sport could improve,” he added.

Minister Rakgare said unsatisfactory performance was largely due to overlaps, duplications and sometimes unhealthy and unnecessary competition.

He indicated that the Botswana government spent more money than any other government in the SADC region towards preparations for the recently concluded Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Further, he highlighted that the subvention that Botswana gave to sport per annum was among the top two in Southern Africa and was possibly among the top 5 in the entire African continent.

Although Botswana was better than most countries in the continent in terms of funding by government, facilities and human capital, among other things, Rakgare indicated that it was clear that the country was not among  the best in performance due to poor local sport structures.

Minister Rakgare said because of all identified factors, his ministry initiated dialogue with a view to arriving at the current better sport governance model.

He said the model had the ability to assist the country realise the dream of having a more efficient, effective, coherent and economical structure.

He urged Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) to support NSAs in terms of long term athlete development.

He, however, said if the associations’ goals were not clear, they should not be funded.

“One of the reasons we are under-performing when we are better funded is that we have not had long term planning,” he added.

With long term planning and programming, he said, every thebe spent could make a difference and NSAs could be guaranteed of wider pools of athletes, better competitiveness and results as well as longevity of athletes.

The BNSC board chairperson, Marumo Morule thanked the minister for making time to meet national associations’ leadership, noting that it was a long time since all stakeholders met.

Morule urged the NSA leadership to use the opportunity with the minister to raise issues that would grow sport. ENDS