18 Oct 2022

Botswana Netball Association (BONA) is happy with the increased number of children and youth participation in sport through its Re Ba Bona Ha programme.

The association’s marketing and public relations officer, Mokeresete Mokeresete, said this in an interview post the netball skill based festival in Maun over the past weekend.

Mokeresete said through Re Ba Bona Ha, the association had produced quality players, some of which had been absorbed in national teams since the grassroots development programme launch in 2019.

“The grassroots development programme has done wonders to introduce children at a tender age and develop their athletic abilities and nurture their skills. We are happy to see the good results it continues to yield,” Mokeresete said.

Currently, he said they had identified 12 potential form three pupils to be taken to centre of excellence at Mogoditshane Senior Secondary School, adding ‘their admission would however depend on their academic success. If some fail to proceed to Form 4, they would be absorbed in the out of school programme.’

He indicated that the initiative had therefore proved that selection of long term development should begin at grassroots level.

“And we are intending to roll out the programme to all districts in order to produce players that can break into senior teams. However, we cannot expect results without grassroots coaches,” he added.

Mokeresete said grassroots coaches were key in achieving the end result of the programme because they assisted children to learn and thrive within the sporting environment.

He also said children participating in grassroots netball had different incentives and were currently enjoying playing even outside the Ngamiland region.

Again, he emphasised the need to involve parents, saying that had since worked for them because they now understood the importance of the programme and fully supported their children to grow. “In the past, we used to experience some challenges as some parents were not comfortable with their children going to play in areas such as Gaborone because of the distance and that life would be difficult for them,” he added.

Meanwhile, the association had hosted the festival for students nearing graduation to gauge their progress and expose them competitive games. They played against Maun under 20 Team.

The festival was divided into two categories, targeting students aged five to 14 years as well as 15-17 years and a majority were secondary students.

Participants were also taken through a mentorship programme facilitated by the national team captain and other key players who shared their sport journeys in an effort to motivate the youngsters to take sport seriously.

On one hand, Mokeresete said through mentorship session, they had managed to address such challenges, adding “distance and language is no longer a barrier because children easily adapt to city life. Initially, some children felt discriminated, frustrated to join the national team.” ENDS