08 Feb 2024

The availability of appropriate sporting facilities forms part of the aspects necessary for the attainment of excellence in sports.

The Minister of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture, Tumiso Rakgare said this at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kanye community sports facility on Wednesday.

He said government’s ongoing efforts to avail quality sporting facilities showed commitment to build a culture of excellence in sports in the country.

He said it was expected that the  stadium would be a bedrock of sports development in the entire GaNgwaketse region, and that the community would use it both to unearth sporting talent as well as to nurture and polish it.

Rakgare said the facility would cater for different sporting codes among them football, volleyball, netball, rugby, cricket and athletics, and urged the community to fully utilise it so as to derive maximum benefit from it.

The Minister conceded to the plea by the senior Chief Representative Kgosi Kwelagobe Mookodi and assured the Kanye community that government would consider naming the facility after athletics star, Letsile Tebogo, in recognition of his role in raising Botswana’s flag high in sports.

He, however, urged them to understand that the process was not easy as it entailed the consideration of several key factors.

Kanye District Council chairperson, Mpho Dithole said the P9.2 million project was scheduled to be completed in April and in time and within budget.

Kanye South Member of Parliament, Dr Lemogang Kwape thanked government for the project, saying it was among the many that would be implemented that had been promised to the people of Kanye.

Kanye North MP Thapelo Letsholo appealed for the re-introduction of sports in schools.

He said the move would guarantee the early identification of talent, something that he explained was central to attaining the excellence in sports that Botswana yearns for.

Earlier when welcoming guests to the occasion, Kgosi Mookodi had shared the wish to have the stadium named after Tebogo in acknowledgement of his role in the growth of sports in the country.

He explained that suggesting that the facility be named after Tebogo was not intended to pour scorn on the role that stars in other codes such as footballer Phenyo Mongala had played in the arena of sports development. Ends